Iga Swiatek wasted no time in booking her spot in the second round of the 2023 US Open, beating Rebecca Peterson 6-0 6-1 in less than an hour on Arthur Ashe Stadium. The world No. 1 was at her ruthless best and takes on Daria Saville next. Elsewhere, Maria Sakkari was stunned by Rebeka Masarova. The eighth seed became the first big-name casualty as she was beaten 6-4 6-4 by the world No. 71.
Iga Swiatek laid down an ominous marker to her rivals with a 6-0 6-1 win over Rebecca Peterson in the first round of the US Open.
The defending champion and world No. 1 came into the final Grand Slam of the year seemingly not in top form, but wasted no time in booking her spot in the second round.
Swiatek was efficient behind both her first and second serve and accurate with her groundstrokes as she dished out a bagel in the opener.
Peterson had a great chance to get on the board on Swiatek’s first service game in the second set, only to pass up three break points. She did, however, level the set at 1-1 to the delight of the crowd on Arthur Ashe.
That delight was short-lived though, as Peterson was broken to love as Swiatek moved within sight of the finish line at a set and 3-1 clear.
The Pole secured the double break in the sixth game before sealing the straight-sets win on her second match point.
She needed just 58 minutes to get over the line, hitting 20 winners and converting five of six break points in a dominant performance.
"I really wanted to play solid and start the tournament with everything that I’ve focused on when I was practising here for the whole week, so I’m glad I could play such a great game," Swiatek said on-court after her victory.
"I just feel happy that with all the pressure and expectations I could just have fun on court."
She also joked that Frances Tiafoe - on Ashe after her - had told her yesterday not to win too quickly as he "doesn't have time to warm up".
Swiatek will play Australia’s Daria Saville next, after she beat Clervie Ngounoue 6-0 6-2 in an hour and 13 minutes.
No comments:
Post a Comment