World No. 1 Iga Swiatek described Serena Williams’ US Open match against Danka Kovinic as “the most popular Grand Slam first round ever.” On Monday, Williams kicked off her final US Open. In the US Open first round, Swiatek defeated Kovinic 6-3 6-3.
The match broke the US Open attendance record as 29,402 fans came out to support Williams in her US Open first-round match. Williams didn’t disappoint as she handled Kovinic in straight sets. “For sure it was like the most popular first round of a slam ever.
Yeah, it’s just amazing. It shows how much she has changed our sport and how much she has done. I’m pretty happy that she can experience something like that,” Swiatek said. “I also feel that not every player would handle that kind of fuss around your first match of the tournament.
She’s handling it pretty well, as usual. So that’s just confirmation of how great she is.”
Swiatek on her opening performance in New York
In the US Open first round, Swiatek crushed Jasmine Paolini 6-3 6-0. After suffering shock back-to-back round-of-16 losses in Toronto and Cincinnati, Swiatek made a very positive start at the US Open.
“Well, for sure I’m pretty happy with the performance, and I feel like I have better rhythm than in Toronto and Cincinnati so that’s great. I’m trying to enjoy that,” Swiatek said. Swiatek lost her service twice in the first set “For sure in the first set at the beginning, you know, I played a pretty solid game, but I needed to take it up to another level. I did that at the end and in the second set, so I’m pretty proud of that,” Swiatek reflected.
