Ostapenko beats Swiatek again and reaches Stuttgart semifinals with Sabalenka

STUTTGART, Germany (AP) — Jelena Ostapenko continued her dominance over Iga Swiatek by beating the world No. 2 on her favorite surface.

Ostapenko won 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the clay-court Porsche Grand Prix on Saturday to improve her head-to-head record against the four-time French Open champion to 6-0.

“Every time I step on the court with her it’s another battle, I’m ready for it,” said Ostapenko, the 2017 champion at Roland Garros. “Even if I don’t feel great on the day, I will just fight and leave it all on the court.”

The Latvian player, ranked No. 24, previously beat Swiatek four times on hard-courts and once on grass.

“I tried to be aggressive today and take time away from her because when she has time, she's playing very well,” Ostapenko said.

In the semifinals, she will play Ekaterina Alexandrova, who ousted third-seeded Jessica Pegula 6-0, 6-4.

No. 1-ranked Aryna Sabalenka finally played her first match in Stuttgart and beat former doubles partner Elise Mertens 6-4, 6-1.

Sabalenka got a bye through the first round and a walkover in the second.

“Never happened before that I play the first match on Saturday,” she said.

She will next face No. 6 Jasmine Paolini, who knocked off No. 4 Coco Gauff 6-4, 6-3 for the first time in three career meetings.

Paolini earned her first top-10 win of the year.

Sabalenka leads Paolini 4-2 on tour.

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

Jasmine Paolini, of Italy, reacts after her game against Coco Gauff, of the U.S., not pictured, in their women's singles quarterfinal tennis match at the WTA tour in Stuttgart, Germany, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (Marijan Murat/dpa via AP)

Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka takes a photo of the baseline as she plays Belgium's Elise Mertens, during their women's singles quarterfinal tennis match at the WTA tour in Stuttgart, Germany, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (Marijan Murat/dpa via AP)

Lithuania's Jelena Ostapenko in action against Poland's Iga Swiatek during their women's singles quarterfinal tennis match at the WTA tour in Stuttgart, Germany, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (Marijan Murat/dpa via AP)

Lithuania's Jelena Ostapenko in action against Poland's Iga Swiatek during their women's singles quarterfinal tennis match at the WTA tour in Stuttgart, Germany, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (Marijan Murat/dpa via AP)

Poland's Iga Swiatek in action against Lithuania's Jelena Ostapenko during their women's singles quarterfinal tennis match at the WTA tour in Stuttgart, Germany, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (Marijan Murat/dpa via AP)

Poland's Iga Swiatek in action against Lithuania's Jelena Ostapenko during their women's singles quarterfinal tennis match at the WTA tour in Stuttgart, Germany, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (Marijan Murat/dpa via AP)

Lithuania's Jelena Ostapenko in action against Poland's Iga Swiatek during their women's singles quarterfinal tennis match at the WTA tour in Stuttgart, Germany, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (Marijan Murat/dpa via AP)

Poland's Iga Swiatek after losing against Lithuania's Jelena Ostapenko during their women's singles quarterfinal tennis match at the WTA tour in Stuttgart, Germany, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (Marijan Murat/dpa via AP)

Lithuania's Jelena Ostapenko in action against Poland's Iga Swiatek during their women's singles quarterfinal tennis match at the WTA tour in Stuttgart, Germany, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (Marijan Murat/dpa via AP)

Lithuania's Jelena Ostapenko celebrates victory against against Poland's Iga Swiatek during their women's singles quarterfinal tennis match at the WTA tour in Stuttgart, Germany, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (Marijan Murat/dpa via AP)

CHICAGO (AP) — John Hauldren has been a Chicago Cubs fan all his life. During the team’s last homestand, he got a text message from a high school friend. It was the first text he had received from him.

Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong had just used “Front to Back” — a song from Hauldren's electronic music group, Levity — as his walkup music in a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“I was like ‘What? Like, no way,'" Hauldren recalled. “I, like, had to do my research for myself.”

Sure enough, it was true. Hauldren confirmed the authenticity of the moment through a tangential connection to the emerging star.

Crow-Armstrong's girlfriend has a cousin who is friends with the girlfriend of PJ Carberry, another member of Levity.

“My girlfriend, her cousin and her sister actually all just went to go watch them in Arizona,” Crow-Armstrong said. “I had already been talking about making one of their songs my walkout, so I just decided to do it.”

Crow-Armstrong, a 23-year-old Southern California native, also uses Larry June's “Still Boomin” for his walkup song. He said he isn't a big fan of dubstep — the subset of electronic dance music where Levity lands most of the time — but he likes Levity's stuff.

Music is a prominent part of Crow-Armstrong's daily routine, and he enjoys the process of picking a walkup song.

“Music’s the best thing ever. I mean, literally, universally, it is the best thing ever,” he said.

Hauldren, 26, has a similar opinion when it comes to Crow-Armstrong’s baseball team. Hauldren is the youngest of four siblings in a White Sox family from suburban Chicago. He grew up going to White Sox games on the South Side.

But he was always a Cubs fan.

“It just kind of stuck, and a lot of my friends were Cubs fans, too,” he said. “So thankfully my dad would suck up his pride or whatever you would call it and take me to a Cubs game every once in a while.”

The beginning of Levity goes back to Hauldren and Carberry connecting at the University of Iowa in 2017. They met Josh Tarum through mutual friends, and they started making music together.

Hauldren and Carberry live in Chicago, and Hauldren worked on much of “Front to Back” at their place in Bucktown — not far from Wrigley Field.

“My window is the skyline of Chicago and stuff,” Hauldren said. “And so seeing that song get played at Wrigley Field when it was made watching the skyline of Chicago and being very close to Wrigley Field was just insane to me.”

After Crow-Armstrong used the song as his walkup music, Hauldren posted on Instagram about how much it meant to him. He tagged Crow-Armstrong in the post, and the two talked. They are hoping to meet up at some point.

Levity played Coachella this year, and it is going to Lollapalooza this summer in Chicago's Grant Park. But Hauldren said his connection with Crow-Armstrong ranks right up there when it comes to his most memorable experiences with his group.

“I’m just very happy that if someone ever plays a walkout song for us, that it was the Cubs,” he said. “Like I couldn’t be happier that, you know, of all the teams that it was my team.”

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Chicago Cubs' Pete Crow-Armstrong watches his sacrifice bunt that scored Darby Swanson during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Friday, April 25, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Chicago Cubs' Pete Crow-Armstrong hits a one-run double during the second inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies in Chicago, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)