US Open 2022: Swiatek survives scare as Niemeier becomes own worst enemy

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New York, September 6: Iga Swiatek survived a major scare as she came from a set and a break down to beat Jule Niemeier and set up a US Open 2022 quarter-final with Jessica Pegula.

The world number one looked to be in a real spot of bother against the German ranked 107 places below her, but Niemeier could not maintain her blistering start and Swiatek claimed a 2-6 6-4 6-0 victory.

Swiatek initially looked a shadow of the player who had not lost a set in the first week, with Niemeier's power and unpredictability causing the Pole no end of issues.

Niemeier was immediately a break up and had no problem consolidating before eventually getting another to lead 5-2.

So underwhelming was Swiatek that Niemeier could even afford three double-faults in the final game of the opener as the German impressively took a first-set lead.

After a bathroom break, Swiatek returned with greater purpose but was still lacking ruthlessness; she inexplicably missed a forehand on break point at 1-0 up in the second, and then she stuck a simple volley into the net a few minutes later to find herself a break down.

That was the first of seven breaks in a second set defined by poor serving, but Swiatek was just slightly better than her opponent, with successive breaks giving her the edge in a rollercoaster encounter.

From there, Niemeier barely registered as a threat due to her wastefulness, recording four double-faults and 14 unforced errors to Swiatek's zero and one respectively in the decider as the latter bageled her opponent.