Iga Swiatek blazes through to the second round of the US Open as she kickstarts her title defense with a straight-sets win over Rebecca Peterson

Iga Swiatek kicked off her US Open title defense with a straight-sets victory over Sweden’s Rebecca Peterson.

The world No. 1 advanced to the second round with a 6-0, 6-1 victory on her return to Arthur Ashe Stadium, disposing of Peterson in 58 minutes.

Swiatek, whose hold on New York’s top spot is threatened by Aryna Sabalenka, took just 25 minutes to take the first set.

The 22-year-old continued to fight his way through the first round contest with Peterson, who finished in 86th place, winning just one game.

The Pole, who is competing for her fifth Grand Slam title, will face Australia’s Daria Saville in the second round. She is now 18-1 in the first round of the majors.

Swiatek said her tank was “pretty empty” after losing in the semifinals to Montreal and Cincinnati earlier this month, but showed no lack of strength as she opened her US Open campaign with an ace and stormed through the first set.

The Polish player showed only brief signs of vulnerability at the start of the second set as she started making more unforced errors and had to work her way back from the triple break point in the first game.

But she reminded the crowd at Flushing Meadows why she’s been world number one since April 2022, when she hit an unrecoverable backhand shot in the fourth game to force Peterson to love.

Peterson, who had only produced two winners in the match, never regained her composure and Swiatek pumped her first after finishing the match with a scorching backhand down the line.

More to follow.