Iga Swiatek advances to US Open quarter-finals after comfortable straight sets win over Liudmila Samsonova

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Iga Swiatek made light work of her fourth-round opponent under the lights in New York, beating 16th seed Liudmila Samsonova in straight sets to advance to the quarter-finals. The number one seed needed just 90 minutes to advance to the next round, where she will face home favourite Jess Pegula. It was Swiatek’s 100th Grand Slam match – she has won 83.

Sinner & Swiatek outlast their rivals to reach quarters at US

Video credit: SNTV

Former champion and current world No. 1 Iga Swiatek continued her US Open run with a straight sets win over 16th seed Liudmila Samsonova in front of a raucous crowd at Flushing Meadows.

Playing under the lights, Swiatek ran out a 6-4 6-1 winner against her opponent, not facing a break point in another dominant display.

Swiatek has yet to drop a set in New York as she chases a second US Open crown, having won here back in 2022. Bar being taken to one tie-break set in the opening round, Swiatek has been back to her dominant best - dropping just 12 games across her last three matches.

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Samsonova has never previously beaten the Pole, and never looked likely to do so after 16 unforced errors in the first set handed her opponent the initiative.

Swiatek forced her opponent to go for more and more each shot, the Pole looking clinical and never troubled by Samsonova, who grew more frustrated as the match went on and more and more balls went long.

"In the second set, I was leading and I just wanted to keep being focused, not let my mind drift off so I’m basically happy with the whole performance," Swiatek said in her on-court interview after the match.

"At the beginning it wasn’t easy to get the rhythm, as I put focus on recovery rather than playing lots of matches coming into the slams, so for sure, I’m happy I got some matches here and I’m feeling better and better every day."

Swiatek is still looking to bounce back from the disappointment of not taking Olympic gold, despite being heavy favourite in Paris on her preferred surface.

A straight sets loss to her great rival Aryna Sabalenka in Cincinnati left many wondering about her form on the hard courts, but so far Swiatek has looked very much back to her best.

Winning 84% of the points behind her first serve in the opening set and 93% in the second left Samsonova with very little to work with, the Russian struggling to get a foothold in any of Swiatek’s service games and always under pressure in her own as a result.

Swiatek moves on in New York to face the home favourite Jessica Pegula. The American advanced to the quarter-finals equally comfortably, with a straight sets win over Diana Shnaider.

Pegula has never made it further than the quarter-finals though in any slam - and will be trying to break that duck against a player who looks to be in the form of her life. Pegula will have the crowd on side when those two meet, but how much of a difference that can make remains to be seen.

Swiatek leads their head-to-head 6-3, and beat Pegula here at Flushing Meadows in the quarter-finals on her way to the title in 2022.

"Against Jess it is never easy, she has a very tricky game style, so you have to be ready for longer rallies - she is a great player so it will be a big challenge," Swiatek said, as she looks towards that quarter-final, knowing she will be playing against the crowd as much as her opponent when those two meet later this week.

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