Big guns Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff have successfully negotiated a second-round wobbles to move on at the US Open in New York.
Swiatiak eventually notched her 16th win from 17 matches after being stretched to three sets by Dutchwoman Suzan Lamens.
The second seed had arrived at Flushing Meadows as the form player in the women’s game after following up her Wimbledon triumph with victory in the Cincinnati Open, and had looked every inch the tournament favourite with her opening demolition job on Emiliana Arango.
But on Thursday, it proved a much more trying day for the Pole as she made a host of errors to lose the second set before regrouping and coming through 6-1 4-6 6-4.
From 4-3 up in the second set after a one-sided first stanza, Swiatek had tightened up to lose four games in a row as Lamens, ranked 66, forced a decider.
She also fought back when going 4-1 down but Swiatek kept her nerve to set up a third-round contest against 29th seed Anna Kalinskaya.
“It wasn’t an easy match and I made some mistakes. I’m happy that at the end I could be more proactive,” said Swiatek.
“I probably got a little tight in the second set and she used the opportunity and was using her chances. It was not easy, but the third set is a reset.”
Third-seed Gauff kept wiping the tears welling in her eyes between points in her second-round match, trying to stay composed, trying to give herself a chance to beat Donna Vekic.
Gauff’s serving troubles were again an issue, just as they were two nights earlier, just as they’ve been for a while now.
The two-time grand slam champion teamed up with a new coach recently to try to fix that aspect of her game and, while there clearly is still work to be done, Gauff did figure out how to stay in the tournament, overcoming Vekic 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
“Honestly, today was a tough match for me. But I’m just happy with how I was able to manage. It’s been rough couple weeks,” Gauff said during her on-court interview, before pausing as she began to cry.
In the first set, Gauff, a 21-year-old from Florida, double-faulted seven times and lost four of her six service games, including to trail 5-4 and then 6-5.
But she broke right back each of those times – as Vekic took a medical timeout to have her right shoulder looked at – and then was superior in the tiebreaker.
After that set, Gauff headed to the locker room to splash some water on her face and regain focus.
Elsewhere, Japan’s four-time major winner Naomi Osaka looked in fine fettle as she overwhelmed American Hailey Baptiste 6-3 6-1 with a dominant performance.
The two-time US Open champion had not reached the third round at Flushing Meadows since 2021 but looked very comfortable as she booked a meeting with either Australian 15th seed Daria Kasatkina or Kamilla Rakhimova.
“I was just really trying to focus and not give her any free points and just be positive,” said Osaka, who donned a sparkling purple kit and walked in with her Labubu charm she nicknamed “Arthur Flash” in honour of late American tennis pioneer Arthur Ashe.
Osaka, who has shown glimpses of her old form this year especially after reaching the Montreal final, said: “I was really stressed the entire time … I’m really excited to be moving better.”
With agencies
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