NEW YORK — Iga Swiatek had an easy start to her quest to win the US Open and Wimbledon in the same year, needing just an hour to beat Emiliana Arango 6-1, 6-2 on Tuesday.
The No. 2-seeded Swiatek won the point on 23 of 26 first serves and had a 26-5 advantage in winners in the opening match of the day on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Swiatek went nearly a week between matches after losing in the mixed doubles championship match with Casper Ruud last Wednesday night. But her rhythm came right back in a dominant start to the tournament.
“For sure it was a solid match and I’m happy that I wasn’t trying to overpower, but I was just solid,” Swiatek said.
Swiatek continued her dominance against unranked opponents in majors this season; she is 12-0 and has won 24 of a possible 25 sets played. Arango, who was making her debut at Flushing Meadows, fell to 1-3 at Slams this year.
After going more than a year without a WTA title and falling as low as No. 8 in the world in June, Swiatek has found her groove. She has won 18 of her last 20 matches since the conclusion of the French Open, with titles at Wimbledon and Cincinnati.
Swiatek improved to 26-1 in first-round matches at majors, tied with Serena Williams for the fourth-best win percentage in opening matches by any woman in the Open era (minimum 25 matches).
She has now won 50 tour-level matches this season; only Carlos Alcaraz (55) and Aryna Sabalenka (51) have won more in 2025.
A second title for the 2022 champion at Flushing Meadows would make her the first woman to win Wimbledon and the US Open in the same year since Williams in 2012.
Swiatek also has a chance to regain the No. 1 ranking if she wins the title and Sabalenka loses before the quarterfinals.
A self-professed “Swiftie” since 2014, Swiatek said in her news conference that she learned of the superstar singer’s engagement to Chiefs player Travis Kelce from her team after the match.
“She seems super happy, so I’m happy for her,” said Swiatek, who previously credited the artist for helping her learn English. “I wish them all the best.”
Swiatek proceeded to answer a few more questions about Swift; when a reporter inquired if they could ask “a non-Taylor question,” Swiatek jokingly replied, “No,” before pretending to leave.
In other women’s singles first-round results, No. 27 seed Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine defeated Britain’s Katie Boulter 6-4, 6-4, and Australian Maya Joint got past Andorra’s Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva 6-4, 7-6 (6). Also advancing in straight sets was the Netherlands’ Suzan Lamens, who took down American Valerie Glozman.
Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia (18) was another seeded player to move into the second round, needing three sets to put away Britain’s Sonay Kartal 6-3, 1-6, 6-1.
ESPN Research, The Associated Press and ESPN’s D’Arcy Maine contributed to this report.
