NEW YORK — Iga Swiatek covered her head with a white towel during one changeover after falling behind by a set and a break in the US Open’s fourth round Monday. She kept making mistakes, then rolling her eyes or glaring in the direction of her guest box.
Eventually, Swiatek got her strokes straightened out and began playing more like someone who is ranked No. 1, moving into her first quarterfinal at Flushing Meadows by coming back to beat Jule Niemeier 2-6, 6-4, 6-0 in Louis Armstrong Stadium.
“I’m just proud,” Swiatek said, “that I didn’t lose hope.”
The 21-year-old from Poland will face another first-time US Open quarterfinalist next. That’s No. 8 seed Jessica Pegula, the highest-ranked American woman, who advanced earlier Monday with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over two-time Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova in a match interrupted by rain for 45 minutes during the third game because the retractable roof at Arthur Ashe Stadium was not closed when a drizzle became a downpour.
Pegula called it “a little frustrating,” saying it was particularly tough “at the start of the match, when there’s no feeling of what’s going on. You’re just sitting there in limbo, not sure what to do.”
The U.S. Tennis Association said in a statement that its “weather team” told US Open organizers there was no rain expected. The statement added: “Unfortunately, a pop-up sunshower occurred.”
Later Monday, two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka lost 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-2 to two-time major finalist Karolina Pliskova, who advances to face No. 6 Aryna Sabalenka. Pliskova, a former world No. 1, was the runner-up at the US Open in 2016 and at Wimbledon in 2021.
Pliskova has returned to form in Flushing Meadows after a broken right wrist forced her to miss the Australian Open and she struggled in her first few tournaments when she returned to action.
Azarenka lost for the fifth time in nine career meetings against Pliskova.
In the night session, Sabalenka bounced back from a slow start and visits from the trainer to outlast No. 19 seed Danielle Collins 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Sabalenka continued her mastery at Flushing Meadows over Collins, beating her for the third time at the US Open (2018 and 2021). She led 4-3 in the second set when she needed a medical timeout. Sabalenka had a trainer massage her left thigh, and it continued throughout breaks in the match. Sabalenka, an Open semifinalist in 2021, said at her on-court interview she was fine.
Sabalenka at one point complained to the chair umpire…
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