US Open: Swiatek, not at her best, passes Saville test; to meet best friend on tour, Juvan, in third round

Pole Iga Swiatek, the top seed, won against Australian Daria Saville 6-3, 6-4 to move into the third round of the US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York on Wednesday.

The world No 1 was not at her best, hitting an even 23 winners and unforced errors as she made a lower service percentage than her opponent as well. However, when it counted, Swiatek executed, with five of six break points converted as the top seed raced through her second round match in just one hour, 34 minutes.

“I just felt like I kind of prevailed, because that match wasn’t easy. I’m just happy to be in the third round. For sure I want to improve some stuff, because I did some unforced errors. You know, it’s just the beginning of the tournament, so for sure I work on some stuff,” the Pole said after her win.

She’s my best friend on tour. She’s one of the most honest and I think smart people on tour.

Swiatek on third round opponent, Kaja Juvan

Swiatek, ranked No 1, will face Slovenian qualifier Kaja Juvan next. The 22-year-old Pole beat Swede Rebecca Peterson (6-0, 6-1) ahead of her victory.

“We know how to keep it cool and we already played couple of times against each other. Last time in Roland Garros, 2021. I think we both can kind of cut off the off-court friendship and just play our game, and then we are friends back. At least there’s nothing crazy is going to happen. But for sure she’s my best friend on tour. 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.”

In the previous round of the US Open, Saville, ranked No 322, won against American wildcard Clervie Ngounoue (6-0, 6-2).

New York (Grand Slam), other second-round results (USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, hard, USD 44.700.000, most recent results first):

• Petra Kvitova vs. Caroline Wozniacki
• Jodie Burrage vs. Aryna Sabalenka
• Karolina Pliskova vs. Clara Burel
• Greet Minnen vs. Sachia Vickery
• Daria Kasatkina vs. Sofia Kenin
• Eva Lys vs. Lucia Bronzetti
• Qinwen Zheng vs. Kaia Kanepi
• Petra Martic vs. Marie Bouzkova
• Ons Jabeur vs. Linda Noskova
• Patricia Maria Tig vs. Jessica Pegula
• Elina Svitolina vs. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
• Yanina Wickmayer vs. Madison Keys
• Liudmila Samsonova vs. Tamara Korpatsch
• Martina Trevisan vs. Marketa Vondrousova
• Ekaterina Alexandrova vs. Lesia Tsurenko
• Peyton Stearns vs. Clara Tauson
• Yafan Wang vs. Katie Boulter
• Elena Rybakina vs. Ajla Tomljanovic
• Jennifer Brady vs. Magda Linette
• Jelena Ostapenko vs. Elina Avanesyan
• Xiyu Wang vs. Bernarda Pera
• Victoria Azarenka vs. Lin Zhu
• Anna Kalinskaya vs. Sorana Cirstea: wednesday
• Karolina Muchova (10) beat Magdalena Frech: 6-3, 6-3
• Anna Karolina Schmiedlova beat Rebeka Masarova: 7-6, 6-2
• Sara Sorribes Tormo vs. Xinyu Wang: wednesday
• Coco Gauff (6) beat Mirra Andreeva: 6-3, 6-2
• Belinda Bencic (15) beat Yuriko Miyazaki (Q): 6-3, 6-3
• Kaja Juvan beat Lauren Davis: 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-3
• Taylor Townsend beat Beatriz Haddad Maia (19): 7-6 (1), 7-5
• Elise Mertens (32) beat Danielle Collins: 3-6, 7-6 (7), 6-1