Iga Swiatek cruises past Sloane Stephens in the second round of U.S. Open
Iga Swiatek returns the ball against Sloane Stephens in their U.S. Open second-round match up at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Thursday. Credit: Errol Anderson
Iga Swiatek, the No. 1 player in the world, needed just 74 minutes Thursday to put away former U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens, 6-3, 6-2.
In picking up her WTA Tour-leading 52nd win of the season, Swiatek easily handled the first match of her career in Arthur Ashe Stadium, breaking Stephens' serve four times.
“I’m pretty happy with my focus today,” Swiatek said. “I’ve had ups and downs, but here I was pretty solid from the beginning.”
The 21-year-old Pole should be happy as she is now the only one of the top four seeds to make it past the second round. Also on Thursday, Paetra Martic upset No. 4 seed Paula Badosa , 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-2.
On Wednesday, Serena Williams eliminated No. 2 Anett Kontaveit and third-seeded Maria Sakkari lost to Xiyu Wang.
Stephens, who won the U.S. Open in 2017, made it to the quarterfinals of the French Open thi year. Besides that, she has mostly made early round exits this year.
Swiatek knows how to play in the spotlight, having won the French Open in 2020 and 2022. Swiatek had a 37-match winning streak going this year that included her French Open win over Coco Gauff. Gauff, who has also advanced to the third round, could meet Swiatek again in the semifinals.
A win here would give Swiatek her seventh title this season, something nobody has done since Serena Williams in 2014.
Speaking of Williams, with her big win here Wednesday there has been some chatter that she could go deep into the tournament. One gets the feeling that Swiatek wouldn’t mind meeting the legend in the finals with everything on the line.
Swiatek even posted a fan-girl selfie of her with Williams on Twitter three days ago.
“So…..this is the highlight of my day,” the post read. “Congratulations on your amazing journey and legendary career. Huge respect for everything you have done for our sport.”
Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.
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