Tennis-Swiatek swats aside Arango in US Open first round

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By Amy Tennery

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Former champion Iga Swiatek kicked off her U.S. Open campaign with a 6-1 6-2 win over Colombia’s Emiliana Arango on Tuesday as the Pole aims to keep her hot streak on track in New York.

The blindingly bright sun appeared to be the biggest challenge the Wimbledon winner had to cope with at Arthur Ashe Stadium as she never faced a break point and sent over 26 winners compared to five from her opponent.

Swiatek, who broke retired great Monica Seles’ record for most consecutive WTA singles opening matches won in the professional era (65), will next play Suzan Lamens of the Netherlands.

“Pretty happy with my performance in Cincinnati and trying to get, you know, some confidence from that,” said Swiatek, who reached the semi-finals at the Australian Open and Roland Garros this year. “There are a lot of positive vibes in the team.”

The 2022 champion unleashed her usual precision play to break unseeded Arango from the baseline in the fourth game and sprinted through the rest of the set from there, dropping only one of her first-serve points.

Swiatek broke her opponent in the opening game of the second set, where she produced just five unforced errors, and Arango shouted in frustration as she helped the six-times major winner to another break with a clumsy shot into the net in the seventh.

The 24-year-old had her devoted Polish fans on their feet as she closed it out with a forehand winner, giving a subdued celebration.

“Polish fans are kind of everywhere, it’s super nice to feel the support always,” said the world number two.

Swiatek arrived in New York in pristine form, showing no signs of fatigue as she entered the U.S. Open mixed doubles a day after lifting the trophy at the Cincinnati tune-up tournament and reached the final with Norwegian Casper Ruud.

(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Ken Ferris and Toby Davis)