Iga Światek’s problems at the US Open. Surprising stagnation in the match with the Russian

Iga Świątek returned to play after the Olympic Games. The Polish player has been the world’s number one racket for 118 weeks and the highest seed in this year’s competition. Last year’s Grand Slam tournament brought her a lot of unpleasantness, but she is currently in a different situation. “A year ago I felt that I had a lot to defend, like the position of the leader of the ranking, points or the title itself. I felt like I had a huge burden on my shoulders. This year it is a bit different,” she said before the tournament.

US Open: Iga Świątek’s Unexpected Problems

In her first match, the Pole faced Kamilla Rakhimova at Arthur Ashe Stadium, the main court. The Russian entered the tournament as a so-called lucky loser. The tennis player is ranked 104th in the WTA rankings. The tennis players met on the playing field for the first time in history.

The favourite of this match was of course Iga Świątek. And so it was at the beginning of this match. The Polish player won four games in a row, breaking her opponent twice. When it seemed that the Russian would easily lose the first set, the tennis player broke the Polish player once and brought the score to 4:3. Fortunately, the Polish player pulled herself together in time and won the fifth set. Rakhimova defended the first set point in the ninth game, but in the next one she had little to say. Ultimately, this set ended with the score 6:4.

US Open: Iga Świątek achieved her goal

With the score at 1:1 in the second set, Iga Świątek broke Kamilla Rakhimova again and took the lead, which she then increased. The Polish player’s game was not ideal, the world’s first racket made a lot of unforced errors, which did not allow her to end the match faster. The Russian player equalized (5:5). The winner in the second set had to be determined by a tie-break. The Russian player had three set points, but did not use any of them. Raszynianka equalized 6:6, and then won 8:6, and the whole match 2:0.

In the second round, Iga Świątek will face the winner of the clash: Daria Saville (Australia) – Ena Shibahara (Japan).