Iga Swiatek makes it difficult to write about her matches. The issue is not that she isn't good because she is actually terrific. She has never shown much emotion on the court, though. Still, that's not the problem with covering her matches.
The challenge is that Swiatek has recently been winning most of her matches so quickly that the time between first ball and last is short. One starts and finishes a paragraph, and the WTA No. 2 has won four games. Her second round opponent at the US Open would not be so easy to defeat, though.
Suzan Lamens is not a bad player. She has only won one title in her career, and she will never be as accomplished as the Pole (who has already won six Grand Slams and is only 24 years old), but she is also skilled enough on a great day to give Swiatek a difficult time.
Iga Swiatek defeats Suzan Lamens to move into the third round at the US Open
The match didn't start that way. Swiatek swept through the first set, especially dominating as a returner. Lamens landed nearly 70 percent of her first serves, but won less than 50 percent of those points. She only won one out of six of her second serve points.
She wasn't able to land any winners, either. Lamens had seven double faults. Meanwhile, Swiatek was an efficient nine and 10, respectively.
The second set was far more competitive. Lamens kept landing her first serve, but was winning the vast majority of those points. She even got a break off the Pole early, and the set was even through six games.
Serving at 3-all, though, Suzan Lamens had a slight dip in form and was broken as Iga Swiatek took a 4-3 lead and simply needed to keep holding to move on to the third round. Shockingly, however, the WTA No. 2 could not hold and double-faulted on the final point to move the second set back to 4-all. Lamens then held and got another break of Swiatek to win the second set 6-4.
The third set seemingly began well enough for Swiatek. She got a couple of breaks and led 4-1. Lamens got one break back, though, to put pressure on the Pole so that Swiatek could never truly feel safe. Swiatek was able to hold again at 4-3, and the drama of the match mostly felt done. She had a break and match point on Lamens' next service game, but was unable to take advantage.
Still, Iga Swiatek was able to hold in the next game. She won the match 6-1 4-6 6-4.
As the Pole is hitting bigger, both with her serve and forehand now, she is going to be terrficially difficult to beat at the US Open, a major she won in 2022. Swiatek will next play Anna Kalinskaya in the third round. Kalinskaya defeated Yulia Putintseva in straight sets in round two.