No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek of Poland overcame a surprise second-set challenge from Suzan Lamens of the Netherlands and held on for a 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 victory in the second round of the U.S. Open on Thursday in New York.
Swiatek lost leads of 2-1 and 4-3 in the second set as Lamens broke her serve three times. Swiatek won just half her 20 first-service points in that set, but she turned it around in the third by taking 15 of 18 first-service points.
The Wimbledon champion broke Lamens twice to build a 4-1 lead. Lamens broke back in the sixth game and crept to within 4-3 before Swiatek eventually won it on her third match point.
“I felt like it depended on me, whether I’m going to make mistakes or not. I probably got a little tight in the second set and she for sure used the opportunity,” Swiatek said. “In the third set, I needed to be more precise.
“It wasn’t an easy match. I’m happy at the end I could be more proactive.”
Swiatek, 24, is vying to become the first woman to capture Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in the same year since Serena Williams in 2012. Coincidentally, the only set Swiatek lost in London last month came in the second round, as well, before she beat Caty McNally and ran the table the rest of the way.
Her third-round opponent will be Russian 29th seed Anna Kalinskaya, who defeated Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva 6-1, 7-5 on Thursday.
In night-time action, third-seeded Coco Gauff took care of Croatia’s Donna Vekic with a 7-6 (5), 6-2 win. A rocky first set for both competitors saw a combined 16 double-faults and Gauff go down 0-2 before winning the next four games and then losing the ensuing three.
Gauff, who recently changed coaches, double-faulted on multiple break points in the first set and was battling emotions, crying into her towel at one point on her bench and clearly struggling to stop her hands from shaking during a later changeover.
After winning the first-set tiebreaker, Gauff played a much higher level in the second set. She double-faulted just once and won the final three games to close out the match. After the victory, she again broke down into tears during her post-match interview.
“Today was a tough match for me, and I’m just happy with how I was able to manage,” Gauff said. “It’s been a rough couple weeks, but I’m just happy to be back on this court. You guys (the crowd) bring me so much joy. You guys really, really helped me a lot.”
Next up for Gauff is a matchup against No. 28 seed Magdalena Frech of Poland, who rallied to beat Peyton Stearns 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-2 in earlier action.
Also playing on Thursday was Japanese star Naomi Osaka. The No. 23 seed converted 5 of 8 break points as she sailed past Hailey Baptiste 6-3, 6-1.
Czech No. 11 seed Karolina Muchova survived a marathon match that spanned nearly three hours against Romanian Sorana Cirstea to win 7-6 (0), 6-7 (3), 6-4. She’ll next face countrymate and 21st seed Linda Noskova, who was leading 6-4, 3-0 when Eva Lys of Germany retired.
No. 13 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia needed just 63 minutes to top China’s Xinyu Wang 6-2, 6-2. No. 18 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil had a similar outcome, beating Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic 6-1, 6-4. Haddad Maia advanced to face Greece’s Maria Sakkari, a 6-3, 6-1 winner over Anna Bondar of Hungary.
In the last women’s singles match of the night, No. 8 Amanda Anisimova of the United States defeated Australia’s Maya Joint 7-6 (2), 6-2.
–Field Level Media
