World No. 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland has endured disappointments in recent Grand Slam events, but cruised to a straight-sets victory on Saturday to reach the fourth round of the U.S. Open in New York.
Swiatek, who was upset in the first weekend at last year’s U.S. Open, didn’t face a break point en route to a 6-4, 6-2 victory over No. 25 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia.
Swiatek also lost in the third round at Wimbledon the past two years, but appears to be back on track as the top player on the women’s circuit.
“I just wanted to kind of focus on myself,” Swiatek said after the match. “For sure she’s a great player and she’s really powerful so you have to be ready for the first couple of shots to be really fast.”
Since her Grand Slam debut in 2019 at the Australian Open, Swiatek has the most appearances in the round of 16 at a major with 16.
Swiatek opened the match by breaking Pavlyuchenkova, who pulled within 5-4 before the Polish star held serve in the 10th game to take the first set.
After Pavlyuchenkova took the opening game of the second set, she was up 30-15 in the second game. But Swiatek came back to win the game, then broke Pavlyuchenkova in the third to go up 2-1 before cruising to victory.
Swiatek, the 2022 U.S. Open winner, will face another Russian player, No. 16 seed Liudmila Samsonova, who cruised past American Ashlyn Krueger 6-1, 6-1. Swiatek is 3-0 against Samsonova, most recently earning a win at the Beijing final in 2023.
Caroline Wozniacki, who has lost twice in the U.S. Open final, also moved on to the round of 16 with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over fellow unseeded opponent Jessika Ponchet of France.
“I’m thrilled to be into the second week, of course,” Wozniacki said afterward. “It’s always nice. I love playing here. Any time I get to play another match here, I’m very pleased with that.”
Wozniacki’s fourth-round opponent will be No. 22 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil, who cruised past No. 15 seed Anna Kalinskaya of Russia 6-3, 6-1 in the last match on Saturday night.
Fifth-seeded Jasmine Paolini defeated Yulia Putintseva 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the fourth round, earning her way into the second week of a major tournament for the fourth time in 2024.
The Italian made the fourth round of the Australian Open and played in the finals at the French Open and Wimbledon. She joins Coco Gauff as the only women in 2024 to win three matches at all four Grand Slam events.
“This year I started well. I started believing more in myself,” Paolini said in her on-court interview. “I started believing I could play well in the slams. Before this year, I never passed two rounds in a grand slam. It changed a little bit I guess.”
Paolini was aggressive against Putintseva, going to the net 19 times and winning 12 points. And she also fought off seven of the Kazakhstani’s nine break point chances while converting four of six on Putintseva’s serve.
Next up for Paolini will be Karolina Muchova, who met Gauff in the semifinals of the U.S. Open in 2023, after the Czech’s 6-4, 6-2 defeat of Russian Anastasia Potapova. Muchova is 3-0 all-time against Paolini, but the two last played in January 2021.
Joining Paolini and Muchova in the fourth round is Jessica Pegula, the sixth seed, who topped Jessica Bouzas Maneiro of Spain 6-3, 6-3.
Pegula needed just 70 minutes to get past the Spaniard, who hit five winners compared to 29 unforced errors. Pegula was far sharper overall, winning the point on 89 percent of her first serves compared to 51 percent for her opponent.
This will be the third straight fourth-round appearance for Pegula, who has never advanced past the quarterfinal of a major tournament.
In Monday’s fourth round, Pegula will play Russian Diana Shnaider, a 6-2, 6-2 winner over Sara Errani of Italy.
–Field Level Media
