"I was able to play a little bit better in the second set, and I kind of used first set to get more information and get into the rhythm, but Claire played pretty well," Swiatek said afterwards. "I'm happy that I'm into the third round and I have a chance to play more matches here."
Swiatek was joined in the third round by 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu of Canada, who bested American wildcard Emma Navarro 6-1, 6-4 in 1 hour and 9 minutes. If both Swiatek and Andreescu win their third-round matches, they would meet in the Round of 16.
Here are some key numbers surrounding Swiatek and Andreescu's wins:
30: Top seed Swiatek earned her 30th match-win of the year by defeating Liu in 1 hour and 29 minutes on Court Philippe Chatrier. Swiatek is currently tied with Elena Rybakina for the second-most match-wins on tour in 2023; only Aryna Sabalenka has won more matches this season (31).
3: Swiatek, who will star in Part 2 of Netflix's Break Point, picked up her third win in three meetings with Liu, and her second victory over the American this year. This March, Swiatek claimed a 6-0, 6-1 win over Liu at Indian Wells.
92: Swiatek, the Roland Garros champion in 2020 and 2022, now has a 23-2 win-loss record at the tournament. Her 92.0% winning percentage at this event is the third-best in the Open Era (since 1968), behind only Margaret Court (95.2%) and Chris Evert (92.3%).
37: Swiatek is also up to 37-1 against players ranked outside the Top 50 in Grand Slam play. Her only Grand Slam loss to a player ranked lower than No.50 was to Viktorija Golubic in the first round of 2019 Wimbledon.
24: On Thursday, Swiatek saw a double-break lead at 3-0 in the first set disappear as Liu pulled back to parity at 3-3. However, Swiatek cranked a forehand return winner to break again for a 4-3 lead, and she took the opener from there. All told, Swiatek captured the last seven games of the clash, with her 24 winners doubling Liu's 12.
2-0: Swiatek will face China’s Wang Xinyu in the third round, after 80th-ranked Wang defeated Sweden’s Rebecca Peterson 7-6(5), 6-2 on Thursday. This will be their first tour-level meeting, but Swiatek went 2-0 against Wang in the juniors, including a narrow win in the 2018 Junior Wimbledon semifinals.
Bit untidy but she's only human.
We're so used to Iga bulldozing everyone that when it doesn't happen it's a shock. She still won the 2nd set 6-0. She won both matches by an identical score line in fact.
She didn't play anywhere near her best at U.S. Open and won that even though hardcourt is her 2nd best surface.
So no need for concern or over reaction from the media and fans.
Iga is just warming up. The more time she spends on court the better she'll get.
That's what champions do.
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