Third seed Swiatek dumped out of French Open last 16 by Ukraine's Kostyuk

[p]It leaves world number one Aryna Sabalenka as favourite to claim her first title in Paris, though ‌Kostyuk will be one to watch as ⁠she builds the momentum that ‌has helped her sparkle on clay this season.[/p][p][b]"I'm still in shock," Kostyuk ​said in an on-court interview.[/b][/p][p][b]"I feel like I've given myself more space to just create something, to ​challenge my opponents. I woke up in the morning and all I thought was 'what an unbelievable day I have to live ⁠today ... there's nothing I ​could do other than this'.[/b][/p][p][b]"I try not to focus at all on winning and losing, because I'm not playing tennis to win. I'm playing tennis because I love it. I want to ‌connect to people, I want to feel this energy ... make people happy and unite people."[/b][/p][image alt="Marta Kostyuk - Iga Swiatek match stats" id="988b1ab8-64e6-4371-8f11-a2342d45635f" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="1a631bca-3454-4a74-8e3c-f9a71236e215" original-width="1080" original-height="1350" /][p]There was little to separate the ‌duo in the early ⁠exchanges as ‌they twice traded breaks, before [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kostyuk-marta/8CZqQdSa/"]Kostyuk[/a] came ​up with a tight hold in the 11th game ​and raised her level at the end to claim the opening ⁠set with ​a backhand crosscourt winner.[/p][p]It was the first time that Kostyuk had taken a set off the third-seeded ‌Pole after three straight defeats in their previous meetings, and she sensed a big upset when she went ahead 3-1 in the next set after a battling effort.[/p][p]The Rouen and Madrid champion held her nerve from there ‌to take her record on ​clay this season to 15-0, and ‌book a meeting with seventh-seeded Ukrainian [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/monfils-elina/jyngIesG/"]Elina Svitolina[/a] or 11th-seeded Swiss [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bencic-belinda/ObGlDvu0/"]Belinda Bencic[/a] in the next round of Roland Garros.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/kostyuk-m-8CZqQdSa/swiatek-i-jNyZsXZe/?mid=vBdPktcE"]Check out all the match stats with Flashscore.[/a][/p]