Iga Swiatek loses to Marta Kostyuk at French Open on her birthday

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No 3 seed goes down 7-5, 6-1 to Ukrainian 15th seed Pole becomes latest big-name Roland Garros casualty For such a large proportion of Iga Swiatek’s career, Court Philippe-Chatrier at Roland Garros has been her fortress. No matter the résumé of the opponent before her, the significance of the occasion or even how badly she might have been feeling on court, she always found a way through. By the time she won her fourth French Open title in five years – her third in succession – Swiatek seemed invincible on this court. It has been only two years since the six-time grand slam champion last tasted success in Paris, yet on a mercifully cool Sunday afternoon, it felt as if that version of Swiatek was from a different dimension as the Pole put together the worst performance of her career in Paris. Her serve and confidence collapsing at once, Swiatek suffered a miserable 7-5, 6-1 defeat on her 25th birthday to the 15th seed, Marta Kostyuk, ending her run in the fourth round. Continue reading...