World No. 1 Iga Swiatek comes from behind to defeat Jule Niemeier, advancing to US Open quarterfinals
The first two matches of the US Open women’s tennis tournament in New York City on Friday night were both decided by the score of two games.
Two-time US Open singles finalist Iga Swiatek was the last seed remaining after the first set of a tough three-set encounter against Jule Niemeier of Canada. Swiatek was up two sets to one, but pulled away on her second service game to win after the 10th time Niemeier had served.
“It’s just so difficult to play a perfect match,” Swiatek said after the match. “If you don’t make a mistake, everything goes good. It’s not about how much you can win; it’s about how to win.”
Swiatek defeated three former US Open singles finalists for the first time in her career to claim the second-round victory.
The last of the three was Monica Seles, who was also the victor of the 2008 US Open final, who faced former World No. 1 Vera Zvonareva in the quarterfinals.
Swiatek’s victory in New York was the fifth of her singles career and the sixth time she has reached the round of 16 at the US Open. She had previously reached that stage at the 2009 Australian Open and 2010 French Open.
“It was a long three sets, so it just so happened that I made the top two,” Swiatek said. “It was very tough, but I just think it was a really good match. I did everything I wanted to do. I feel, again, that I am a good player. I have won a lot of matches against world-number one players, and I feel that I just have to keep on playing against world-number one players.”
Swiatek was in the middle of a five-match winning streak over Niemeier to begin the tournament.
“I thought that I played well today, but I have to take things from here,” Swiatek said. “I don’t think I played my best tennis today, but I came really close and I beat her.”
Iga Swiatek came into the tournament with four straight wins in New York, reaching that span with victories over top 20 players. But she didn’t look like the