Four-time former champion Iga Swiatek endured a miserable birthday as she was eliminated from the Roland Garros fourth round on Sunday by Marta Kostyuk.
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The Polish third seed went down 7-5, 6-1 to the 15th seed from Ukraine.
Kostyuk, the Madrid Open winner, moved into the quarterfinals at Roland Garros for the first time in her career.
A STATEMENT WIN FROM MARTA 💪
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 31, 2026
Kostyuk is into her first quarter-final in Paris! #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/QawkygAbca
"I'm still in shock to beat such an unbelievable player who won four times here and I lost four times to her before this, I never took a set off her," 23-year-old Kostyuk said.
Swiatek will now go another year without the title she first won in 2020 and then three times consecutively between 2022 and 2024.
With her fourth-round exit, it was the joint worst performance at Roland Garros for the 25-year-old, equal with the last-16 departure she suffered on her debut in Paris seven years ago.
The first set went on serve until the seventh game when Swiatek pounced on Kostyuk's service to move in front.
From there, the Pole's own delivery deserted her as the world number 15 hit back to level before the pair again exchanged another pair of breaks.
Ready to rumble 💪
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 31, 2026
Marta Kostyuk leads Swiatek 7-5 after the first set. #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/fYjDUObcmJ
Kostyuk then dug in to hold and force the former world No 1 to try and serve to stay in the set.
Two Swiatek double faults gave Kostyuk the chance to claim the opener and she did with a low cross-court backhand that whizzed past her opponent at the net.
Swiatek swiftly departed the court at the interval in a bid to regroup.
She came back out firing as she immediately nosed ahead with a break to 15.
But Kostyuk was not to be denied as she sealed a three-game streak with a bruising forehand winner past a stranded Swiatek to lead 3-1.
A stunning rally concluded with a reflex volley at the net that Swiatek could not equal. In the next game a dominant Kostyuk held to love to move Swiatek to the brink.
The match was up for the six-time major winner as Kostyuk consistently pinned the Pole back with her powerful groundstrokes to win the final two games.
Still undeafeted on clay this season 👏#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/ax2kZzUJe0
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 31, 2026
Kostyuk will face either seventh-seeded compatriot Elina Svitolina or Swiss 11th seed Belinda Bencic for a spot in the semifinals.
Sorana Cirstea continued her renaissance this season by downing Chinese world number 148 Wang Xiyu 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) on Sunday to book a spot in the quarterfinals.
Cirstea, who will retire at the end of the season, is enjoying a golden last year on tour. She backed up a semifinal run at the Italian Open by equalling her previous best performance at Roland Garros and progressing to the last eight for the first time since 2009.
The 36-year-old will face either Russian eighth seed Mirra Andreeva or Switzerland's 170th-ranked Jil Teichmann in the next round.