By Simon Jennings
NEW YORK (Reuters) -World number two Iga Swiatek weathered a fierce challenge from Anna Kalinskaya before prevailing 7-6(2) 6-4 in a dramatic third-round clash at the U.S. Open on Saturday.
Poland’s Swiatek, playing her first evening match under the Arthur Ashe Stadium lights at this year’s tournament, looked anything but comfortable as Kalinskaya raced to a 5-1 lead in the opening set.
The 29th seeded Russian appeared poised to repeat her stunning victory over Swiatek in Dubai last year, but the 2022 U.S. Open champion showed her championship mettle, clawing back to force a tiebreak where she dominated 7-2.
The second set proved equally testing, with both players exchanging breaks of serve at the beginning.
Kalinskaya, who owns a respectable 5-6 career record against top-five players, continued to trouble the six-time Grand Slam champion with aggressive baseline play.
But the Pole found her range when it mattered most, securing the decisive break at 5-4 and closing out the match.
“Anna was playing great. She was really playing all these risky balls it like she once did against me in Dubai,” said Swiatek on court. “I wanted to make less mistakes, I was playing good but in the last shots I couldn’t finish it.”
The victory improves her head-to-head record with Kalinskaya to 2-1 and gives her a tour-leading 17 match wins since the start of Wimbledon.
The win also moves Swiatek ahead of Aryna Sabalenka with 20 Grand Slam match wins in 2025 as she continues her pursuit of a second U.S. Open title.
(Reporting by Simon Jennings in New York;Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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