US Open: Swiatek overcomes slow start, sweeps Kalinskaya to advance

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Iga Swiatek clawed back from a rough start and regrouped in the most crucial period of the opening set to repel Anna Kalinskaya, 7-6, 6-4, in the ongoing US Open on Aug. 31, 2025, at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York.

The Polish ace wasn’t in her most lethal form, committing a series of unforced errors that allowed the Russian netter to move a game set away from taking a 1-0 lead, 5-2.

Kalinskaya had the golden chance of securing the first set in her service possession, but the tables turned when she committed back-to-back costly double faults, helping Swiatek force a deuce.

Swiatek scored two down-the-line forehands to stay alive, 5-3, finding her groundstroke rhythm that proved to be the difference-maker as the match progressed to the deciding tiebreaker.

The Russian hopeful only managed to score a single set during the next 25 minutes, struggling to find her mark when Swiatek stepped on the gas pedal and went more aggressive with her drives.

It was all Swiatek during the tiebreaker, dominating Kalinskaya with a barrage of forehand winners to cap off the 1-0 cushion in style, 7-2.

From that point, Swiatek held on to her momentum, protecting all her service possessions in the second set to complete the massive come-from-behind win.

Kalinskaya had her moments in the first set, capitalizing on Swiatek’s error-plagued first-half performance with on-point return aces.

Unfortunately, Swiatek woke up at the perfect time in the opening frame, shaking off early game jitters to recollect herself, especially in her baseline forehand accuracy.

Despite trailing 2-5 in the first set, Swiatek still edged Kalinskaya in the offensive department, tallying 88 total points won.

“I just wanted to make a little bit less mistakes,” said Swiatek during her post-game interview.

“I just need to be more solid. I just focused on simple things. She started making a bit more mistakes and it got, for sure, tight. I already felt like I had nothing to lose because I was losing pretty bad. At the end, I just went for it, because what more can I do?”