Iga Swiatek will face her best friend on the WTA Tour, Kaja Juvan, for a spot in the 4th round of the US Open, and it will be a good one.
Swiatek hasn't been as sharp as she was last year, showing quite a bit of vulnerability. Whether it's pressure or just other players shortening the gap remains to be understood, but it made the season far more enjoyable overall.
Parity makes events more exciting, and we have it this year. There are multiple players capable of winning the US Open, though Swiatek will try to defend her trophy. To get there she'll need to go through Kaja Juvan, a good player who found her rhythm this week.
The Slovenian knows Swiatek well as they're best friends. They played a couple of times so far with the Polish player winning both matches, but the matches were quite exciting. It's unlikely that she's going to beat her, but it's a nice storyline, one which will see their friendship pause during the match.
Head-to-head:
The two played two times so far, and Swiatek won both matches. Neither happened recently, as the first one came in 2021 at the Gippsland Trophy, with the result was 2-6 6-2 6-1. The second one happened later that year at Roland Garros, with the score being 6-0, 7-5.
Prediction:
Whether we see a similar scoreline remains to be seen, but Swiatek is the favourite. Juvan had a decent year so far with 28 wins and 15 losses, but that pales compared to Swiatek's year of 55 wins and only 9 losses. Even so, Daria Saville showed a solid blueprint as to how to play Swiatek, making their match rather interesting.
Juvan doesn't play that style, and she's likely to trade blows from the baseline, but that's not the way to beat the reigning number one. The stakes are high as Swiatek is battling for the trophy and her number one rank, so expect her to come out with fire. In that situation, I don't see her losing.
Prediction: Iga Swiatek to win in two sets.
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