No.1 seed Iga Swiatek survived a gritty challenge from lucky loser Kamilla Rakhimova in the first round of the US Open, saving triple set point in the second-set tiebreak before advancing 6-4, 7-6(6) in 1 hour and 52 minutes.

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Early on, the first-time encounter threatened to be a one-sided rout after Swiatek raced out to a 4-0 lead for the loss of just three points. But thereafter Rakhimova, who took Aryna Sabalenka to three sets in Washington four weeks ago, pushed the Pole hard for the rest of the match. Swiatek was unable to close out the World No.104 serving at 5-4 in the second set, and ultimately needed to squeak past in a tiebreak that went down to the wire.

This fortnight, Swiatek is bidding to add a second US Open crown to her 2022 title. Her 21st victory in 22 career Grand Slam first-round matches sets up a second-round clash with qualifier Ena Shibahara, the former doubles No.4 who has turned her focus to singles this year. The Japanese World No.217 claimed a marathon 6-3, 4-6, 7-6[6] contest over Daria Saville in 3 hours and 17 minutes, coming from 2-0 down in the third set for a victorious Grand Slam singles debut.

What did Rakhimova do to push Swiatek so hard?

Rakhimova and Swiatek had never previously played at any level, but they would have been familiar with each other: both born in 2001, the pair grew up together throughout the various junior levels. In 2015, they were both semifinalists at Les Petits As, the most prestigious U14 tournament on the calendar.

Once Rakhimova settled after her slow start, she was able to drag Swiatek into a series of extended rallies due to superb anticipation and defense. Her vulnerability was that she was less able to finish them off on her own terms -- Rakhimova only struck nine winners to Swiatek's 30. However, Swiatek's inability to play her preferred quick, aggressive points was a reason behind her tally of 41 unforced errors.

"She's not playing too fast, which kind of makes you want to speed up," said Swiatek afterwards. "But you can't do that in these conditions sometimes because it's too risky. So I guess I feel like I made a lot of mistakes, because sometimes she was kind of provoking it."

In the second set, Rakhimova also demonstrated a high level on serve. In the first set, it had been attackable, and she had only won 60% of the points behind her first delivery -- a number that went up to 73% in the second set. Despite going down an early break, Rakhimova posted a sequence of routine holds to put herself in a position to take advantage of Swiatek's dip when serving for the match.

Rakhimova may not have racked up the winners, but she made them count when she did. A drop shot-lob combination was the best point of the first set, and a laser-like backhand down the line opened the door for the break back for 5-5 in the second set.

What were the keys to Swiatek getting over the line?

Amidst her error tally, Swiatek did find patches of superb tennis. Her own serve was frequently unplayable, and improved as the match went on: she won 75% of the points behind her first delivery in the second set compared to 64% in the first.

Having had her 4-0 lead cut to 5-4 in the opener, Swiatek responded with an authoritative service game, including two aces, to close out the set. However, after breaking for 2-1 in the second set, Swiatek uncharacteristically did little to press home her advantage on return -- and even more surprisingly, threw in a series of errant forehands when serving for the match.

In the tiebreak, strong play from Swiatek saved the first two set points -- but closing out the match required Rakhimova's own forehand to go astray in the closing few points.

Other notable early Day 2 results

  • As well as Swiatek and Shibahara, a number of other players posted significant first-round wins on Tuesday at Flushing Meadows.
  • No.25 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova was the first victor of the day, needing just 61 minutes to rout Australian wild card Taylah Preston 6-2, 6-0.
  • Last year's semifinalist Karolina Muchova, playing just the sixth tournament of her comeback from wrist surgery and ranked No.52, advanced 6-3, 7-5 past Katie Volynets -- though the story of the match was the spectacular hot shot the Czech conjured up in the second set, a leaping, no-look, behind-the-back lob.
  • Sara Errani, the 2012 US Open semifinalist, notched her first win in Flushing Meadows since 2015 with a 3-0, 6-0, 6-4 defeat of Cristina Bucsa. Errani is the freshly-crowned Olympic doubles gold medallist alongside Jasmine Paolini.
  • Ashlyn Krueger and Jessika Ponchet both came into the US Open with a 0-6 record in Grand Slam first rounds -- and both managed to get over the hurdle at their seventh attempt. Krueger rebounded from a disastrous start in which she won just five points in the first five games -- but eventually edged Zhang Shuai 0-6, 6-1, 7-5. Zhang is now on a 23-match losing streak stretching back to February 2023. Meanwhile, French qualifier Ponchet advanced 6-4, 6-1 past Zheng Saisai.
  • Two-time finalist Caroline Wozniacki raced past qualifier Nao Hibino 6-0, 6-1 in just 53 minutes.