Swiatek reach four consecutive US Open last 16 after easing past Pavlyuchenkova

Iga Swiatek secured her place in the US Open Round of 16 for the fourth time in a row on Saturday night with an easy 6-4, 6-2 victory against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Swiatek produced her own version of the trademark back-spin winner that has been the tournament’s first week’s buzzer shot after taking an early break to lead 3-1 in the opening set. After Pavlyuchenkova delivered a powerful first serve down the tee, Swiatek lunged for a forehand squash return that hung in the air and eventually handed just over the net.

“I would be giving too much credit to myself if I said I had control over it,” Swiatek said after the match, “but I guess in situations like that, you remember it’s worth it to kind of reach for every ball even though you think you might not get it.

“It was mostly luck.”

Gritty and overpowering in equal measure, Swiatek’s effort extended her head-to-head record against Pavlyuchenkova to 2-0. In the opening game, Swiatek broke right away and held onto her lead under duress to win the first set after 51 minutes, attempting to earn her second Grand Slam quarterfinal of the year.

In the first set, Pavlyuchenkova managed to win three of the Pole’s service games to 30-all, but Swiatek was not faced with a break point. Swiatek won the opening set and then dominated the rest of the match to win her third consecutive set of the competition. Nine unforced errors were made in her final 19 wins.

Swiatek will face No.16 seed Liudmila Samsonova next, a rematch of last fall’s China Open final, which Swiatek won 6-2, 6-2.