World No. 1 Iga Swiatek wins her third major title at the US Open
TENNIS: World No. 1 Iga Swiatek is a two-time US Open winner with a 6-0, 7-6 (10-8) victory over Petra Kvitova in the opening round of the tournament on Monday.
Swiatek, ranked 67th for the 2019 season entering the tournament, defeated Kvitova on her backswing to grab the title for the first time in her career. She broke Kvitova’s serve in the 4th game and had a game point on the next point, but Kvitova saved both, extending the match to 6 hours, 36 minutes.
Swiatek, ranked 77th for the year, is now the sixth-ranked player in the US Open. She is also a two-time runner-up at the tournament, with a win in 2006 and a title in 2016.
“It feels great,” she said, “just to finish it on the right foot. I wanted to show that I can finish a match on the backswing, like when I won the Roland Garros 2017 final.”
Swiatek got off to a good start with a break in the first game and a double fault in the second. She got two more break points on her third service game of the match and held two more to take the first two games in a tiebreaker and earn a break on the next point.
Swiatek broke for a 4-2 lead with 4 match points on her serve, but Kvitova saved both, extending the match to 6 hours, 35 minutes with a double fault to tie the score.
Swiatek continued to break for a lead, finishing the match with a series of break point opportunities. She only needed one point to take the match to 6 hours, 26 minutes.
“There was some more work to do for Iga and there was a lot of errors. My backhand was there,” Kvitova said. “She will come again. She is a tough opponent and
