Swiatek back in US Open quarters, then straight to the practice court

Seconds after wrapping up a 6-3, 6-1 win over Ekaterina Alexandrova in the US Open fourth round, Iga Swiatek was on her phone.

Not to check for the latest Taylor Swift updates, as she had been a few days previously, but to get some more hitting time after a one-sided rout that had flashed by in just 64 minutes.

"I asked [my coach] to book 10 minutes of practice court, if it's possible," No. 2 seed Swiatek admitted in her on-court interview with a laugh.

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The matchup had, on paper, been a potentially tricky one. Coming into it, Swiatek led the pair's head-to-head 4-2 -- but on outdoor hard courts, Alexandrova held a 2-1 advantage with wins at the Gippsland Trophy 2021 and Miami 2024. Moreover, the 30-year-old has reached a career high of No. 12 after making the Monterrey final last week, and conceded just 10 games over three matches to get to the last 16.

Swiatek has been enjoying a summer surge, claiming the Wimbledon and Cincinnati titles this year -- she has now won 18 of her past 19 matches -- but the first week in New York had not been smooth sailing for the Pole. In the second round, she was stretched to three sets by Suzan Lamens, and in the third had to overturn a 5-1 first-set deficit to beat No. 29 seed Anna Kalinskaya. 

Alexandrova has enjoyed a career-best Grand Slam season, making the last 16 at each of the last three majors, but has yet to advance to the quarterfinal stage at this level. Swiatek, too, has put together her most consistent year at the Grand Slams to date, having now reached at least the quarterfinals at each major. The 24-year-old is the youngest player to achieve that feat since an 18-year-old Maria Sharapova in 2005.

Overall, Swiatek has now reached 13 Grand Slam quarterfinals. Among active players, only Venus Williams (39), Victoria Azarenka (18) and Aryna Sabalenka (14) have made more; Swiatek has tied the total of Elina Svitolina and the freshly-retired Petra Kvitova. She will next face either No. 8 seed Amanda Anisimova in what would be a repeat of the Wimbledon final, or No. 18 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia.

'Intensity and focus': Unlike her previous two matches, Swiatek barely put a foot wrong as she dismantled Alexandrova with 21 winners, including seven aces, to just 13 unforced errors. It wasn't surprising that, afterwards, she said she was happiest with the "intensity and focus" she had managed to maintain.

"I felt like I'm really in my bubble, in the zone" she continued. "Sometimes I was making risky decisions, and I think I forced the ball to go in."

Swiatek's redirected backhand down the line was responsible for a slew of highlights, and she dropped serve just once -- in the second game of the match, thanks to a pair of double faults.

Alexandrova, on the other hand, was unable to deliver the blistering power game that has seen her notch 38 match wins this year. Despite holding her own through the first six games, facing a break point at 3-3 in the first set Alexandrova tapped a sitter forehand into the net with the court wide open. Two games later, she conceded the first set with consecutive double faults and another netted drop shot. She won just one more game in the match, double faulting again to go down 5-1 in the second set.

In the final game, Swiatek withstood a handful of fiery returns from Alexandrova to save three break points and convert her first match point with another backhand winner down the line.