By Rory Carroll
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Poland’s Iga Swiatek crushed Italy’s Jasmine Paolini 6-3 6-0 to reach the second round of the U.S. Open on Tuesday.
Appearing in New York for the first time as the world’s top ranked player, Swiatek looked the part, reeling off the last seven games to set up a meeting with either Belgium’s Greet Minnen or American Sloane Stephens.
Top seed Swiatek is the favourite to win the year’s final Grand Slam after she dominated the French Open in June and went on a 37-match winning streak that was snapped in the third round of Wimbledon.
But she had looked less impressive in recent outings, going 4-4 in her last eight matches before putting the field on notice on a hot and humid morning at Louis Armstrong Stadium.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll; Editing by Ken Ferris)
