NEW YORK (AFP) – Iga Swiatek battled into the third round of the US Open on Thursday, needing three sets to edge past the Netherlands' lowly ranked Suzan Lamens.
Second seed Swiatek advanced to a meeting against Russia's Anna Kalinskaya with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, victory in two hours and six minutes on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court.
The Polish ace -- the pre-tournament betting favourite -- had looked to be romping through to the next round after rattling through the opening set in 30 minutes.
Swiatek then appeared poised to wrap up a straightforward win after breaking Lamens for a 4-3 lead in the second set.
Yet Lamens, the world number 66, broke back immediately to make it 4-4 when Swiatek double-faulted on break point in the next game.
Lamens held serve and then broke Swiatek for the third time in the match to take the set and force a decider.
Lamens' fightback though ran out of steam in the third, with Swiatek going a double break up for a 4-1 lead, before closing out victory.
"It wasn't an easy match. I did some mistakes," said Swiatek.
"I felt like it depended on me and if I made mistakes or not, sometimes I did. I probably got a little tight in the second set.
"But the third set is a reset. You've got to start from the beginning and I knew I could play a little more precisely, so I just tried to do that."
Swiatek, the 2022 US Open champion, has won 16 of 17 matches following titles at Wimbledon and Cincinnati. She goes on to play Russian 29th seed Anna Kalinskaya for a spot in the last 16.
Ekaterina Alexandrova, Beatriz Haddad Maia and Linda Noskova were among other women's seeds to advance.