WHAT HAPPENED: The forehands were tailing wide, the backhands sailing long, the first serves failing to find their target.
In her still-young career, Iga Swiatek has earned a reputation for dominance, for rolling opponents with precious few games surrendered. Wednesday afternoon in Louis Armstrong Stadium, Swiatek demonstrated her ability to grind—and most importantly, to problem solve.
Struggling with her form against a gritty opponent, Swiatek went on the attack to eliminate Daria Saville, 6-3, 6-4, and advance to the third round.
The world No. 1 committed an uncharacteristic 23 unforced errors on the evening but was able to offset them with an equal number of winners, and she feasted on Saville’s second serve, winning 17 of 18 points when the Australian put a second ball in play.
“I just felt like I kind of prevailed,” Swiatek said in her post-match press conference. “I’m just happy to be in the third round. For sure I want to improve some stuff because I [made] some unforced errors. … [But] I wanted to be intensive, and mostly I was in charge of how I'm going to play because I was the one that was attacking.
“I made some mistakes because you kind of need to risk a little bit more. But for sure it wasn't easy. She was using most of my power to get these balls back. I’m just happy at the end I was the one that won.”
Saville entered the match ranked No. 322 in the world, the product of knee surgery that kept her out for nine months, returning only in June of this year. And her talent remains that of a Top 50 player. In fact, in past years the 2010 US Open girls’ singles champion has twice reached the Round of 16 at the Australian Open, and she climbed as high as No. 20 in the world in 2017.
On Wednesday, she started in vintage form, breaking Swiatek in the opening game, and after squandering a 40-0 lead on her own serve, breaking again to draw within 4-3.
But Swiatek continued to find a way to stay in front, the best defensive player in the game going on offense to break down the steady Saville. In all, she would commit an un-Swiatek-like 10 unforced errors in the opening frame but struck 12 winners and benefitted from six double faults from her opponent.
With a set in hand, Swiatek appeared to settle in, running out to an early 2-0 lead to start set No. 2. But again, Saville battled back, erasing an early 0-2 deficit to keep it interesting. In the end, however, Swiatek was simply too good for her opponent to compete for the upset.
WHAT IT MEANS: While perhaps not as straightforward as she might have liked, Swiatek’s victory on Wednesday was another indication that, despite a few wobbles since her French Open title—a quarterfinal loss to Elina Svitolina at Wimbledon, three-set defeats in Montreal and Cincinnati to Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff, respectively—she remains a prime contender, if not the outright favorite, to repeat as champion come Sept. 9.
The Polish superstar has been No. 1 in the world, without interruption, since April 2022, and she has continued to establish her hard-court bona fides since that time. In addition to last year’s US Open title and this summer’s semifinal showings in Montreal and Cincinnati, Swiatek has won titles in 2023 on hard courts in Doha, Dubai and Warsaw.
Next up is Kaja Juvan, who defeated American Lauren Davis in three sets in their second-round matchup. Swiatek and Juvan have played twice previously, both in 2021. Swiatek won both matches comfortably, but Juvan did give her some trouble, stretching the four-time Grand Slam champion to three sets at an Australian Open tune-up in Melbourne (2-6, 6-2, 6-1) and to a 7-5 second set at the French Open (Swiatek won the first set, 6-0).
The two also happen to be good friends, with Swiatek noting that they had dinner just two days ago.
“For sure, she’s my best friend on tour,” said the three-time French Open winner. “She’s one of the most honest and I think smart people on tour. I’m happy that she’s my friend, but yeah, we’ve got to play against each other. It’s a tricky situation, but I think we both know how to be professional and just play the match, and that’s all.”
MATCH POINT: With a second title in Flushing Meadows this year, Swiatek would become the youngest woman to repeat as US Open champion since 21-year-old Venus Williams achieved the feat in 2001.
