<p>Top seed Iga Swiatek was bundled out of the Australian Open fourth round on Sunday, with title threat Coco Gauff also exiting in tears, as a pair of underestimated Grand Slam champions tore open the women's draw.</p>.<p>World number one Swiatek was sent packing by Elena Rybakina in the early match at Rod Laver Arena, the Pole falling 6-4 6-4 to the Kazak Wimbledon winner who started her tournament in the Melbourne Park wilderness of Court 13.</p>.<p>Rybakina shrugged off the scheduling snub before the fourth round showdown but used it as fuel in her first appearance on centre court as a tightly wound Swiatek slowly unravelled.</p>.<p>"I felt the pressure, and I felt that I don't want to lose instead of I want to win," said Swiatek, who dominated last season with two Grand Slam wins.</p>.<p>"I felt like I took a step back in terms of how I approach these tournaments, and I maybe wanted it a little bit too hard."</p>.<p>Rybakina, the 22nd seed, might have expected to face Gauff in the quarter-finals but the much-hyped American teen was upset 7-5 6-3 by Jelena Ostapenko, the forgotten Grand Slam winner of women's tennis.</p>.<p>The 2017 French Open champion thrashed 30 winners past Gauff on Margaret Court Arena, her last two sealing the match in style to leave the 18-year-old in tears at her post-match media conference.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/sports/tennis/andy-murrays-exhausting-australian-open-ends-with-loss-1183282.html" target="_blank">Andy Murray's exhausting Australian Open ends with loss</a></strong></p>.<p>"I feel like it was rough," Gauff told reporters, before breaking down with emotion.</p>.<p>"When you play a player like her and she plays really well, it's like, you know, there's nothing you can do."</p>.<p>The win secured a first Australian Open quarter-final for hard-hitting Ostapenko, as well as the first at a Grand Slam since her run to the Wimbledon semi-finals in 2018.</p>.<p>Latvia's first - and only - Grand Slam champion stunned the world when she hoisted the trophy at Roland Garros as an unseeded 20-year-old.</p>.<p>She has had mostly lean years since but never doubted she would return to the spotlight again.</p>.<p>"My life changed a lot (after the 2017 French Open), so I needed a few years to really get used to what happened because I was really young," she said.</p>.<p>"I always knew and believed in my game. If I play well, I can beat almost anyone."</p>.<p>At a tournament fast running out of star power, unheralded Czech Jiri Lehecka landed another blow for the lesser lights as he toppled Canadian sixth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime 4-6 6-3 7-6(2) 7-6(3) in the men's tournament.</p>.<p>The 21-year-old will play the winner of Stefanos Tsitsipas and Jannik Sinner, who battle in the evening session.</p>.<p>While Lehecka was a bolt from the blue, big things have been expected of Sebastian Korda for some time and the young American is finally delivering on expectations at Melbourne Park.</p>.<p>He took another step toward emulating his Australian Open-winning father Petr by booking his first Grand Slam quarter-final with a see-sawing 3-6 6-3 6-2 1-6 7-6 (10-7) win over Hubert Hurkacz at Rod Laver Arena.</p>.<p>Korda, whose father won the 1998 title under the Czech flag, showed impressive composure as Polish 10th seed Hurkacz roared back to level the fifth set tiebreak at 7-7 by winning four consecutive points.</p>.<p>Korda held firm, closing it out with a backhand winner to set up a clash with Russian 18th seed Karen Khachanov.</p>.<p>"It feels awesome. I was not feeling too much energy towards the fourth and fifth sets but you guys picked me up," the 29th seed told the crowd.</p>.<p>Khachanov had a much easier passage, hammering Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka 6-0 6-0 7-6(4) at John Cain Arena.</p>.<p>The Russian has now reached the quarter-finals at all four Grand Slams.</p>.<p>"Obviously, yeah, that gives me some kind of compliments on what I achieve so far, and I'm just happy to do it. Hopefully I can continue even further on even bigger things," he said.</p>.<p>While the high seeds have tumbled, American Jessica Pegula has been rock solid, and she reached her third consecutive quarter-final at Melbourne Park by beating Czech 20th seed Barbora Krejcikova 7-5 6-2.</p>.<p>Third seed Pegula will face the winner of Victoria Azarenka and China's Zhu Lin for a place in the semi-finals.</p>
<p>Top seed Iga Swiatek was bundled out of the Australian Open fourth round on Sunday, with title threat Coco Gauff also exiting in tears, as a pair of underestimated Grand Slam champions tore open the women's draw.</p>.<p>World number one Swiatek was sent packing by Elena Rybakina in the early match at Rod Laver Arena, the Pole falling 6-4 6-4 to the Kazak Wimbledon winner who started her tournament in the Melbourne Park wilderness of Court 13.</p>.<p>Rybakina shrugged off the scheduling snub before the fourth round showdown but used it as fuel in her first appearance on centre court as a tightly wound Swiatek slowly unravelled.</p>.<p>"I felt the pressure, and I felt that I don't want to lose instead of I want to win," said Swiatek, who dominated last season with two Grand Slam wins.</p>.<p>"I felt like I took a step back in terms of how I approach these tournaments, and I maybe wanted it a little bit too hard."</p>.<p>Rybakina, the 22nd seed, might have expected to face Gauff in the quarter-finals but the much-hyped American teen was upset 7-5 6-3 by Jelena Ostapenko, the forgotten Grand Slam winner of women's tennis.</p>.<p>The 2017 French Open champion thrashed 30 winners past Gauff on Margaret Court Arena, her last two sealing the match in style to leave the 18-year-old in tears at her post-match media conference.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/sports/tennis/andy-murrays-exhausting-australian-open-ends-with-loss-1183282.html" target="_blank">Andy Murray's exhausting Australian Open ends with loss</a></strong></p>.<p>"I feel like it was rough," Gauff told reporters, before breaking down with emotion.</p>.<p>"When you play a player like her and she plays really well, it's like, you know, there's nothing you can do."</p>.<p>The win secured a first Australian Open quarter-final for hard-hitting Ostapenko, as well as the first at a Grand Slam since her run to the Wimbledon semi-finals in 2018.</p>.<p>Latvia's first - and only - Grand Slam champion stunned the world when she hoisted the trophy at Roland Garros as an unseeded 20-year-old.</p>.<p>She has had mostly lean years since but never doubted she would return to the spotlight again.</p>.<p>"My life changed a lot (after the 2017 French Open), so I needed a few years to really get used to what happened because I was really young," she said.</p>.<p>"I always knew and believed in my game. If I play well, I can beat almost anyone."</p>.<p>At a tournament fast running out of star power, unheralded Czech Jiri Lehecka landed another blow for the lesser lights as he toppled Canadian sixth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime 4-6 6-3 7-6(2) 7-6(3) in the men's tournament.</p>.<p>The 21-year-old will play the winner of Stefanos Tsitsipas and Jannik Sinner, who battle in the evening session.</p>.<p>While Lehecka was a bolt from the blue, big things have been expected of Sebastian Korda for some time and the young American is finally delivering on expectations at Melbourne Park.</p>.<p>He took another step toward emulating his Australian Open-winning father Petr by booking his first Grand Slam quarter-final with a see-sawing 3-6 6-3 6-2 1-6 7-6 (10-7) win over Hubert Hurkacz at Rod Laver Arena.</p>.<p>Korda, whose father won the 1998 title under the Czech flag, showed impressive composure as Polish 10th seed Hurkacz roared back to level the fifth set tiebreak at 7-7 by winning four consecutive points.</p>.<p>Korda held firm, closing it out with a backhand winner to set up a clash with Russian 18th seed Karen Khachanov.</p>.<p>"It feels awesome. I was not feeling too much energy towards the fourth and fifth sets but you guys picked me up," the 29th seed told the crowd.</p>.<p>Khachanov had a much easier passage, hammering Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka 6-0 6-0 7-6(4) at John Cain Arena.</p>.<p>The Russian has now reached the quarter-finals at all four Grand Slams.</p>.<p>"Obviously, yeah, that gives me some kind of compliments on what I achieve so far, and I'm just happy to do it. Hopefully I can continue even further on even bigger things," he said.</p>.<p>While the high seeds have tumbled, American Jessica Pegula has been rock solid, and she reached her third consecutive quarter-final at Melbourne Park by beating Czech 20th seed Barbora Krejcikova 7-5 6-2.</p>.<p>Third seed Pegula will face the winner of Victoria Azarenka and China's Zhu Lin for a place in the semi-finals.</p>