Iga Swiatek beats Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to reach US Open 2024 fourth round

Iga Swiatek will meet 16th-seeded Liudmila Samsonova of Russia for a place in the quarter-finals.

World number one Iga Swiatek cruised into the fourth round of the US Open on Saturday, beating 27th-ranked Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 6-2.

Iga Swiatek beats Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to reach US Open 2024 fourth round — Iga Swiatek, of Poland, reacts after defeating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, of Russia, during the third round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024, in New York(AP)

Swiatek, the 2022 US Open champion whose five titles this year include a fourth French Open crown, was largely untroubled in the potentially tricky encounter against the former French Open runner-up, who has seven other Grand Slam quarter-final appearances on her resume.

Pavlyuchenkova, stung by a 6-0, 6-0 loss to Swiatek in their only prior meeting on the Rome clay last year, put up a stronger fight.

Swiatek broke in the opening game on the way to a 3-1 lead, but Pavlyuchenkova dug in to keep her in sight, holding serve in a four-deuce game to pull within 4-3.

But Swiatek’s advantage stood up, and she served out the set with a love game without facing a break point.

Swiatek was even more dominant in the second set — perhaps irked at a ball from Pavlyuchenkova into her body on the first point of the set.

She broke Pavlyuchenkova at love for a 2-1 lead and backed it up with a confident hold then broke again as she coasted to the finish line.

She’ll meet 16th-seeded Liudmila Samsonova of Russia for a place in the quarter-finals.

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