Iga Swiatek Joins Serena Williams in Elite Slam Company After Tough US Open Victory

Just a couple of days ago, in an exclusive interview, Tennis 365 asked Serena Williams‘ former coach, Rick Macci, if he sees a bit of the 23x Grand Slam champion in Iga Swiatek. “100%, and that’s the wildcard,” Macci replied. “That’s what separates great from good. They’re like a pit bull, they get a hold of you, they don’t let go. That’s what I always respected about Iga.” He sounded sure. And Swiatek just proved that his judgment isn’t too far off the mark.

With her victory over Anna Kalinskaya in the third round of the US Open, Swiatek reached her 20th women’s Grand Slam singles Round of 16—a feat that took her only 27 main draws. Only Venus Williams (23), Martina Hingis (25), and Serena Williams (26) managed to reach the milestone faster than her. Talk about elite company. That being said, perhaps the world No. 2 would be more relieved than happy with the feat, considering how Anna Kalinskaya made life difficult for her on Saturday.

Iga Swiatek didn’t have the best of starts against the Russian, as she found herself trailing 5-1 in the first set. The momentum shifted for a while when, serving at 5-2, the 29th seed slipped up, allowing the Pole to claw back to 5-5. From there, the drama continued as both players exchanged serve breaks, taking the set to a tiebreaker, which, however, Swiatek managed to win comfortably. The back and forth of serve breaks continued deep into the second set as well until Swiatek seized the lead at 5-4, and eventually closed out the match 7-6(2), 6-4 in 1 hour and 56 minutes. It was a result that, quite understandably, left her at a loss for words.

“Oh my god, I don’t know — Anna was playing great, she was playing all these risky balls in,” she said later, trying to explain how exactly she managed to turn things around. “I just wanted to make less mistakes. I felt like I was playing good but in the last shot I just couldn’t finish it,” she added as she seemed to finally organize her thoughts. “I just focused on simple things … I felt like I had nothing to lose because I was losing pretty bad. So in the end I just went for it because what else can you do?” Not the most polished tactic, but hey, it worked out, and it also made her one of the first two players to win 20 women’s Grand Slam singles matches in a season since 2016 (Angelique Kerber and Serena Williams). The other half of the pair? None other than the only player ahead of her in the WTA rankings—Aryna Sabalenka.

It’s honestly not surprising considering how the two have been the most dominant forces in women’s tennis of late. After all, Sabalenka, the defending US Open champion, made it to the finals of the Australian Open and the Roland Garros this year, and would have had the opportunity to challenge Swiatek for the Wimbledon title as well had Amanda Anisimova not pulled off the semifinal upset. Of course, Swiatek has double the Grand Slam titles (6) as the Belarusian tiger, and leads her 8-5 in head-to-head battles. That being said, their rivalry, although a bit lopsided at the moment, will continue to be a major talking point in women’s tennis for a very long time, as was the case with Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova before them. As for Williams and Sharapova, their rivalry came to a rather beautiful conclusion just a few days ago at the inaugural of this year’s US Open. And Swiatek, like the rest of the tennis world, couldn’t help but weigh in on it.

Iga Swiatek did not see that coming from Serena Williams

“I know I’m probably the last person you would be expecting to see here tonight,” Serena Williams began as she made a surprise appearance at Newport last week to induct Maria Sharapova into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Among those caught off guard by the move was Iga Swiatek, who, albeit appreciative of the gesture, couldn’t help but wish something like this had happened a little sooner.

“It’s a shame obviously that it didn’t happen before when they were on tour together,” she said. “I just thought that their relationship was so tense that I’m just shocked that they managed to work through it, you know. I guess if you have good intentions, you can work through everything, you know — so for sure I’m happy to see that. I think having that appreciation from your biggest rival, I think it must be a great feeling. So Maria also deserves that, and Serena, she’s great. So they’re both great,” she added before going on to suggest that the current generation of players as a whole should take notes.

“I feel like we all should be kind of united and going towards one goal as players, even though we’re competing against each other,” she said. “That’s one of the examples of that.” Of course, Swiatek’s rivalry with Sabalenka, unlike that of Williams and Sharapova, isn’t one that has developed into a so-called feud. But that’s a noble thought nonetheless, especially considering how some of the exchanges between players this year at the US Open have been disrespectful, to say the least.

Swiatek would be hoping that her run at Flushing Meadows would be one without controversy, and perhaps sprinkled with even more records. Next up, Swiatek is set to face Russia’s Alexandrova Ekaterina, who is coming off a two-straight sets win against China’s Wang Xinyu in the round of 16. Which of these ladies will keep their winning moment intact? Tell us your prediction in a comment. Don’t want to miss a moment?

Head to the EssentiallySports’ live blog of the US Open for minute-by-minute updates of the Grand Slam. While you wait to catch a glimpse of the stars for tomorrow’s battle, we caught up with WTA prodigy Mirra Andreeva. We have the answers to the questions you’d pose to her.