When Iga Swiatek is playing at her best, she is arguably the best player on the WTA Tour, no matter the surface. She has obviously dominated at times at the French Open, but she's won every major except the Australian Open. That includes winning the US Open in 2022.
She might repeat that achievement in 2026, given the way she is playing currently. She reached the semifinals at the Cincinnati Open after winning the Canadian Open earlier in August. She is close to peak performance, and her second-round opponent in New York, Nadia Podoroska, learned that the hard way.
The Argentinian didn't give up easily, but the Pole was simply taking games and the match from her. Swiatek got an early break in the first set with smashing groundstrokes and precise shot-making. Most of the time, the best Podoroska could do is key rallies alive in hopes Swiatek would make a rare mistake.
Iga Swiatek dispatches Nadia Podoroska to move into the third round of the 2026 US Open
That almost happened with Swiatek serving at 5-3 as Podoroska had multiple break points, but the Pole did what great players do and played bigger in the more important moments. She eventually held and took the opening set 6-3.
In the second set, Swiatek got the break early and played mostly stress-free the rest of the set. She knew she could serve out the match, and she wasn't overly struggling to hold. The real question was whether she could get a second break, and she did just that. In only a matter of minutes, Swiatek led 5-1, and Podoroska could start making post-tournament plans.
Should Swiatek win her second US Open, she has a chance of getting back to the No. 1 ranking she held for quite some time in 2023 and 2024. She would need Aryna Sabalenka, the current top-ranked player, to lose fairly early in the event, but the chance still exists that Swiatek gets her ranking back. Once there, she could hold on to it for some time.
After defeating Nadia Podoroska 6-2 in the second set, Iga Swiatek will next play the winner of the match between Harriet Dart and Marie Bouzkova in the third round of the US Open. Swiatek will rightfully be the heavy favorite in that match.
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