Marta Kostyuk stuns Iga Swiatek, KO's last former French champ - ESPN

Marta Kostyuk reached the quarterfinals at the French Open for the first time on Sunday by taking out four-time champion Iga Swiatek 7-5, 6-1 and ruining her birthday.

Kostyuk, who is undefeated on clay this season, had lost their three previous matches and never taken a set against the former top-ranked player, who turned 25 on Sunday.

Swiatek's loss guarantees a new French Open singles champion in the men's and women's draws; Novak Djokovic was the last former men's champion standing before he was knocked out in the third round Thursday.

«To beat such an unbelievable player who won four times here, I'd lost [three] times to her, never taken a set off her, I still cannot believe it,» Kostyuk said. «I think the most important thing I've been doing is really just trying to enjoy. I woke up this morning and I just thought about what an unbelievable day I have to live today to play on Chatrier against Iga.»

Kostyuk defended extremely well Sunday, chasing Swiatek's shots all over the court, and produced some stunning groundstroke winners while her rival was undone by her own mistakes.

An intense baseline battle unfolded from the outset, and Swiatek earned the first break when she overwhelmed Kostyuk after a long rally with a backhand winner. Kostyuk broke back immediately, though, only to drop her serve again and hand Swiatek a 5-4 lead.

The Polish player showed signs of nerves as she double-faulted, shanked a forehand wide and missed a volley at the net, allowing Kostyuk to level at 5-5. Swiatek hit two more double faults in the 12th game, and Kostyuk sealed the set with a backhand passing shot.

As Swiatek briefly left the court, Kostyuk kept herself warm by stretching and hopping beside her chair. She received some