Tennis

Iga Swiatek crushes Peterson to begin US Open title defence

The four-time Grand Slam champion fired off 20 winners and four aces

Iga Swiatek of Poland returns the ball to Rebecca Peterson of Sweden at the US Open. Photograph: Brian Hirshfeld/EPA
Iga Swiatek of Poland returns the ball to Rebecca Peterson of Sweden at the US Open. Photograph: Brian Hirshfeld/EPA
Mon Aug 28 2023 - 21:22

World number one Iga Swiatek got her US Open title defence off to a dominant start on Monday, flattening unseeded Swede Rebecca Peterson 6-0 6-1 to kick off the action on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The four-time Grand Slam champion fired off 20 winners and four aces to set up a second-round meeting with Australian Daria Saville.

Swiatek said that her tank was “pretty empty” after losing in the Montreal and Cincinnati semi-finals earlier this month but showed no lack of vigor as she opened her US Open campaign with an ace and blazed through the first set.

The Polish player showed only brief signs of vulnerability early in the second set, as she began to accrue more unforced errors and had to claw her way back from triple break point in the first game.

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But she reminded the crowd at Flushing Meadows why she has been the world number one since April 2022 as she whacked across an unreturnable backhand shot to break Peterson to love in the fourth game.

Peterson, who was only produced two winners across the match, never regained her composure and Swiatek pumped her first after closing out the match with a scorching backhand down the line.

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2023