Iga Swiatek sees off Daria Saville threat to continue US Open title ...

Top seed Iga Swiatek battled past a determined Daria Saville to reach the third round of the US Open with a straight-sets victory.

The world No. 1 triumphed 6-3 6-4 and will face Slovenian surprise package Kaja Juvan next at Flushing Meadows.

"For sure it wasn't easy," Swiatek said. "The rhythm of the match was kind of weird.

"I wanted to be intensive, and mostly I was in charge of that because I was the one that was attacking.

"But I made some mistakes because you need to risk things a little bit more. She was using most of my power to get these balls back.

"So, I'm just happy at the end that I was the one that won."

The Pole also spoke about facing a close friend in Juvan at a Grand Slam and putting that to one side.

"I think we can both cut off the off-court friendship and just play our game, and then we are friends again. "But she's my best friend on tour. She's one of the most honest and smartest people on tour.

"I'm happy that she's my friend, but we've got to play against each other. It's a tricky situation, but I think we both know how to be professional and just play the match."

Swiatek has made a statement start in her bid to defend the Grand Slam title she won last year in New York.

She dropped just two games in an opening round victory over Rebecca Peterson, and showed impressive resilience to find an answer to everything Saville threw at her in Louis Armstrong Stadium on Wednesday.

Saville, who only returned to the court in June after nine months out with an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, got off to a dream start by breaking Swiatek in the opening game.

The former world No. 20 looked fired up as she took the early initiative, but Swiatek didn’t hang about waiting for a response and immediately broke back before consolidating with a hold to edge ahead.

The next break arrived in game six and again went the Pole’s way, but Saville was left wondering how she had let the game slip away after taking a 40-0 lead before collapsing.

Not to be deterred, the Australian put the set back on serve with a break for 4-3 thanks to a couple of unforced errors from Swiatek.

But the Pole again responded quickly and efficiently, pouncing on a couple of double faults to break once more before serving out a 40-minute set.

An uphill climb appeared mountainous for Saville early in the second set when she went a break down early on, but she stalled the top seed’s momentum by holding for 2-1 and roaring with delight.

Things got even better when the 29-year-old battled her way back into contention by finding another break to level the score at 2-2, producing a delightful drop volley along the way.

However, Saville was again undone on serve in her efforts to consolidate a break, as Swiatek broke once more before showing her opponent how it’s done by holding for a 4-2 lead in the second set.

The Australian avoided any further slips to force Swiatek to serve out the match, which she duly did, firing a backhand winner across court to set up match point before a big serve finished the job.

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