In her second big upset of this U.S. Open, Sevastova beat 13th-seeded Johanna Konta 6-4, 7-5 on Sunday to become the first Latvian woman to make the final eight at a Grand Slam since Larisa Savchenko in 1994.
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Sevastova, the world number 48, had knocked out French Open champion Garbine Muguruza in the second round and she built on that victory with a 6-4, 7-5 win over 13th seed Konta.
Sevastova – who retired from the sport in 2013 – will now play either eighth seed Madison Keys or Caroline Wozniacki in the quarter-finals in NY.
She won her first WTA title in Stanford, she reached the Olympic quarter-final, and she defended her points from past year to help consolidate her rise to just outside the Top 10.
Three years ago Sevastova gave up tennis, fed up with injuries and poor form, and her only time spent with a racket came when giving lessons down at her local club. “I was depressed and it just wasn’t fun anymore”, Sevastova said of her 19-month absence from tennis from May 2013, according to the BBC. I played club matches and then made a decision to go back to play tournaments.
Konta’s defeat left Andy Murray and Kyle Edmund as the last two Britons left in singles competition in the year’s concluding Grand Slam event.
“If I were to be judging myself on results, it would be a very up and down sort of career”.
“I didn’t play the tennis level that I maybe would have liked to have played, but I competed the best I could”.
“I felt I did the best I could today”. I feel well enough to play. The Australian Open champ had only eight winners, but that was just fine in light of Kvitova’s 43 unforced errors. “I’m handling pressure sometimes better than before”, said Sevastova.
Once again the Latvian fell behind in her service game, though some more slices, and some big serving and a booming forehand victor at 40-30, saw her come from 15-30 down to take a 3-0 lead in the opening stages.
It was quickly snuffed out, however, as Sevastova dug deep to hold and when a Konta forehand spiralled out, her victory was assured after one hour and 42 minutes.
But Konta struggled with her serve and that allowed Sevastova to pull in front, 5-3. Konta showed no signs of the health issues she suffered during her second round match against Tsvetana Pironkova.
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The second started in the same way, with Konta losing her opening serve before striking back in a set that would be littered with breaks.
