The top seed, Iga Świątek, defeated Russian Ludmila Samsonova (No. 16) 6:4, 6:1 and advanced to the quarterfinals of the US Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in New York. Her next rival will be American Jessica Pegula (no. 6). (photo: Foto Olimpik/NurPhoto via Getty Images) ONLY WITH US What about prizes for Olympic medalists? We have a comment from the Polish Olympic Committee This was the fourth fight between Świątek and Samsonowa and the Pole’s fourth victory. She is also the third tennis player from Russia whom the leader of the world ranking eliminated in the current edition of the US Open. In the first round she defeated Kamilla Rakhimova, and in the third round – Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, seeded number 25. In the second round she won against Japanese Ena Shibahara. On Monday (on the night from Monday to Tuesday, Polish time), the match was evenly matched for a long time in the first set. In the first nine games, both players were winning on their own serve quite confidently, except for the fourth one, when Samsonowa successfully defended two break points. Świątek didn’t allow a single one. The 10th game turned out to be decisive when, at 5:4, the Pole started playing more aggressively on her opponent’s serve, forcing her to make mistakes. Samsonowa did not manage to win a single exchange and had to accept the loss of the set. This moment changed the dynamics of the match so much that the Russian was no longer an equal rival for Świątek. The Pole quickly won the first three games of the second set, and then also won the fourth, much more fierce game, lasting almost 10 minutes. Samsonowa defended for a long time, but ended it by committing a double service fault. “We played like men” The Russian woman never regained her composure after that. She managed to win only one game – on her own serve, when Świątek was leading 5-0. Later, she saved the first match ball, but on the second one she sent the ball to a minimal throw-out. – At the beginning, we played like men, we maintained our own serve. I knew I would finally have my chance and I took it when it came. I’m very happy with my game, the winner said in an on-court interview.
