US Open: Iga Swiatek storms into the third round in New York after easy win over Sloane Stephens
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ByEurosport
Updated 01/09/2022 at 17:50 GMT
Iga Swiatek wasted no time at all to get the win against Sloane Stephens on Arthur Ashe Stadium on Thursday. The world No. 1 was not at her best with both players struggling on their first serve, but it was the Pole who was able to come out on top in the majority of the baseline battles. Swiatek, who has never gone beyond the fourth round of the US Open, will play American Lauren Davis next.
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Iga Swiatek is into the third round of the US Open after racing past Sloane Stephens 6-3 6-2 on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The world No. 1, bidding to win the American Grand Slam for the first time in her career, was too good from the baseline for the 2017 US Open champion and swept past her American opponent in one hour and 14 minutes.
Swiatek will play American Lauren Davis next after she beat the No. 28 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova 0-6 6-4 7-6(5).
For Swiatek it was the first time she had ever played on Arthur Ashe Stadium. She said it was a "dream come true" to play on the main court.
She said in her post-match interview: "I just tried to have the same kind of motivation and attitude as on any other court as it's the best way for me to perform well but for sure it’s a lot. It’s a dream come true.
"I remember when I was a junior and I came on the highest stand to watch Serena [Williams].
"I remember these matches were great for me to watch. And just being in the stadium here, downstairs, not up there is awesome so yeah. I'm really happy with all the progress I have made."
Swiatek enjoyed a bright start when she broke Stephens at the first attempt in the opening set, but a hearty response followed from the American to close the gap and prevent the Pole galloping into a dominant lead.
Stephens struggled with her consistency on the serve and the tournament favourite took full advantage, producing some thumping returns to force Stephens off court and regain a two-game lead, breaking her opponent at the fourth time of asking.
The 21-year-old quickly stretched her lead to three games before conceding a second game in poor fashion by her standards. She missed a simple overhead which seemed to rock her concentration as Stephens avoided a double-break to hold.
Swiatek survived a nervy seventh game to race to a 5-2 lead, and despite Stephens clawing a consolation game back, the Polish star produced a 110mph serve to launch a dominant sixth game to close the opening set.
She flew through the first four games of the second set to establish a commanding lead, helped by Stephens’ several errors in the early exchanges of the second set, whilst Swiatek took full advantage of the American’s poor showing with minimum fuss.
Stephens managed to get on the board at 4-1, but a fifth game from Swiatek put the game almost beyond reach of the 29-year-old, who despite gaining a second game conceded a fatal sixth as Swiatek marched on.
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