No.17 seed Jelena Ostapenko shocked seventh seed American Coco Gauff 7-5, 6-3 to sail through to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open for the first time in her career on Sunday.
Ostapenko, competing in her first Round 4 at the Australian Open, leveled her career head-to-head against Gauff to 1-1 with a 93-minute triumph in Margaret Court Arena, her first over a Top 10 player at a Grand Slam in three years, and the first Grand Slam quarterfinal appearance since 2018.
"My life changed a lot (after winning 2017 Roland Garros), so I needed a few years to really get used to what happened because I was really young. I was 19 and then turned 20," Ostapenko said. "I always knew and believed in my game. If I play well, I can beat almost anyone. I was trying to work more on my consistency, especially in the preseason. Yeah, just to step on the court and play my game. I think I'm doing it quite well this week."
The Latvian will next face reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina for a spot in the semifinals, after the Kazakh scored an upset of her own against World No.1 Iga Swiatek in their fourth-round match.
Ostapenko is 2-0 in her career against Rybakina, having only lost 11 games in two matches. Their last meeting came on grass last year in Eastbourne, a 6-4, 6-1 win for the Latvian before Rybakina went on to win at the All-England Club.
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"It's going to be a hard match against Elena, but we played a couple of times, and I know how to play against her. I'm just going to try to focus more on myself and on my game, and hopefully I can bring the good and aggressive game again," Ostapenko said.
Gauff let six break-point chances go by in the first set after being the first player to break serve. She led 2-1, but Ostapenko broke back immediately for 2-2; from then on, the Latvian saved two break points as 2-2, and crucially, four at 3-3 -- including 0-40.
Gauff had two game points to force a tiebreak, but lost serve for a second time to fall a set behind. Ostapenko then saved the only break point she faced in the second set in the opening game.
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The American was pushed past deuce in each of her first three service games of the set -- never facing break point -- before surrendering the decisive break in the eighth game.
