Iga Swiatek Dominates Nadia Podoroska at US Open

NEW YORK — The Grandstand doesn’t often feel like a private viewing room at a major, but on Thursday it came close. Those who drifted away from the bustle of Arthur Ashe and Louis Armstrong to watch Iga Swiatek were treated to a clinic, stripped of suspense but rich in quality.

World No. 8 Swiatek needed just over an hour to dismiss Nadia Podoroska 6-3, 6-2 and book her place in the US Open third round. It was their first meeting since a French Open semifinal six years ago. Any notion of a rekindled rivalry vanished quickly.

Swiatek’s serve set the tone and never let it slip. She landed 79 percent of her first serves and won 78 percent of those points, numbers that speak to both precision and intent. She did not face a single break of serve all afternoon.

Podoroska, who had battled past Simona Waltert in three sets in her opener, found one window. It came late in the first set, with Swiatek serving at 5-3. The Argentinian pushed hard, earned three break points and finally had the crowd leaning in.

The response was ruthless. Two unreturned serves yanked control straight back to Swiatek. She dragged the game to deuce, and the pair traded blows through two more deuces before Swiatek seized her second set point, Podoroska’s forehand drifting just wide. The threat was gone. The door, effectively, closed.

From there, Swiatek accelerated. The second set offered no such intrigue. She raced to a 5-1 lead, stepping inside the baseline, reading Podoroska’s patterns and cutting off angles at the net. The match ended on a flourish: a sweeping crosscourt backhand that skidded away beyond Podoroska’s reach.

The scoreline, 6-3, 6-2, suggested a mismatch. The numbers underneath told a more respectful story. Podoroska played a tidy match, striking 11 winners against 12 unforced errors. Swiatek’s ratio was only marginally better — 14 winners to 13 unforced errors — but the difference lay in the weight of her first strike and the completeness of her game.

Her serve gave her free points. Her return pinned Podoroska back. Her movement forward and composure at the net turned half-chances into full ones. Every department tilted in Swiatek’s favor, and the gap stayed constant from first ball to last.

With the win, Swiatek moves quietly but convincingly into the third round, where Harriet Dart or 25th seed Maria Bouzkova awaits. On this evidence, whoever emerges will need more than just clean numbers. They’ll need a way to disrupt a player who, in a smaller stadium and a tighter space, still looked built for the biggest stage.