US Open: Poland’s top-ranked Iga Swiatek demonstrates her skill with a straightforward win to advance to the round of 16.
Poland’s world No.1 Iga Swiatek swatted aside 25th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 6-2 with a near-flawless performance to reach the round of 16 for a fourth straight year at the US Open on Saturday.
The 2022 champion never faced a break and made few mistakes as she marched through the match at Arthur Ashe Stadium, pumping her fist after her opponent sent a return past the baseline on match point. She next plays Liudmila Samsonova.
I’m happy with the performance, because I felt like, you know, she’s a player that can play really powerful shots, so I wanted to be ready for that and I was,” said Swiatek. “I’m happy that I was in control of the match.”
Pavlyuchenkova helped the three-time Roland Garros winner to the break in the first game with a pair of unforced errors on the final two points and Swiatek served to love in the 10th game.
Swiatek took the momentum into the second set, where she dropped only three of her first-serve points and put up just one unforced error, as the Russian’s firepower began to cool. The Olympic bronze medallist broke Pavlyuchenkova to love in the third set and prevailed from the baseline to convert on another break-point chance in the fifth.
A pre-match meeting with Serena Williams offered a boost, as the 23-time major winner returned to Flushing Meadows on Saturday for the first time since she bid farewell to the sport two years ago and met Swiatek in the players’ gym.
Swiatek shot down reporters’ suggestions that the interaction — which occurred well before the start of the match in prime time — was a distraction. “She approached me, like, at 4:00, you know, today. It was before my warm-up,” she said. “I would say it more inspired me and it gave me, like, a positive kick, so it was nice.”
Earlier Saturday, Jasmine Paolini joined Coco Gauff as the only women to reach at least the fourth round at every major in 2024, getting that far at the US Open for the first time with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over No. 30 seed Yulia Putintseva.
The fifth-seeded Paolini was the runner-up at the French Open in June and Wimbledon in July and next meets 2023 French Open finalist Karolina Muchova. Sixth seed Jessica Pegula advanced with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, but Ashlyn Krueger crashed 6-1, 6-1 to Liudmila Samsonova.
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Karolina Muchova, who is rediscovering her best form after 10 months out with a wrist injury, outclassed Anastasia Potapova 6-4, 6-2.
Caroline Wozniacki showed she had plenty left in the tank since her comeback in 2023 after a three-year break following the births of her two children as the 34-year-old Dane eased past Jessika Ponchet 6-3, 6-2.
Jannik Sinner never gave his third-round opponent Chris O’Connell even a moment to contemplate pulling off the sort of monumental upset that eliminated Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz.
“It shows that this sport is unpredictable. Whenever you drop a little bit of your level — if it’s mental, if it’s tennis-wise or physical — at the end, it has a huge impact on the result,” Sinner said. “Both opponents who they lost against, they played some incredible tennis. And it happens.”
Not to the No. 1-ranked Sinner, who is suddenly the favorite to win the men’s championship at Flushing Meadows. He won the first five games and 21 of the first 29 points to make quite clear how things would go at Arthur Ashe Stadium and wrapped up a 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 victory over O’Connell in under two hours.
Stepping on court less than 15 hours after Djokovic’s loss to Alexei Popyrin, and two days after Alcaraz’s loss to Botic van de Zandschulp, Sinner was as dominant as can be in every facet of the sport. With Serena watching from an Ashe suite, Sinner struck 15 aces
He never faced a break point. He won five of O’Connell’s 12 service games. He finished with more than twice as many winners, 46, as unforced errors, 22. “The best tennis player I’ve ever played, for sure,” the 30-year-old O’Connell said.
Trying to collect his second grand slam title of the year after gaining the first of his career at the Australian Open in January, Sinner will face No. 14 Tommy Paul of the US in the fourth round. Paul defeated Canadian qualifier Gabriel Diallo 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-1, 7-6 (7-3).
Tenth seed Australian Alex de Minaur shrugged off a frustrating hip issue that has dogged him since Wimbledon to outlast Briton Dan Evans 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-0, 6-0.
Briton Jack Draper, who is carrying the torch for his nation following the retirement of Andy Murray this summer, got past Van de Zandschulp 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.
