No Time Wasted: Swiatek Cruises At US Open To Lead World No. 1 Race Again

| by Evita Mueller

Iga Swiatek is one match closer to successfully defending her trophy at the US Open as she bested Daria Saville for the 3rd round.

Swiatek didn't play as clean of a match compared to the round one performance, and much of that had to do with what Saville was doing. The Australian came out with a pretty good level overall, hitting the ball consistently. She opened the match with an early break but gave it back right away as Swiatek was still superior from the baseline.

Even so, the Polish player had a lot of errors in that opening set, as she put a lot of power in her shots. It was a very straightforward match, with many powerful rallies from both sides and quite a bit of up-and-down momentum shifting.

Swiatek broke at 4-2 to give herself a chance to seal the opening set, but she failed to give Saville the break back. She would break again to take a 5-3 lead, and this time around it proved enough. The second set opened with an early break for Swiatek, which sealed the match's outcome.

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It was rather expected because the way Saville approached the match wasn't going to work for more than a few games, and it really didn't. She tried her best, but that simply wasn't good enough. Swiatek still had moments where she struggled to break down Saville, who used slices very well.

There isn't the same clinical precision this year from the Polish number one, and it's showing in matches. Still, she's playing on a high enough level to win matches, so it doesn't really matter too much. The final score was 6-3 6-4 for Swiatek.

She had 22 winners and 23 unforced errors, which shows how inaccurate she's been lately. Still good enough to win and set up a clash with good friend Kaja Juvan. The Pole also moves into pole position in the world no. 1 race again after Aryna Sabalenka stole the spot from her in her previous match, and she will have a chance to do it again in her second-round match.

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