Iga Swiatek said a chat with tennis great Serena Williams gave her a “positive kick” for her dominant third-round victory over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Poland’s Swiatek, who triumphed in New York in 2022, did not face a single break point as she defeated the Russian 6-4 6-2 in the night session on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The top seed was seen talking with 23-time Grand Slam champion Williams in the the players’ gym before the match.
“It was nice that she approached me, because I wouldn’t, for sure, find courage to do that,” Swiatek said.
“Even though we met before and for like a couple of years we have been on the same sides and on tour together, she’s still like star-striking for me.”
She added that the encounter with Williams, a six-time winner at Flushing Meadows, “inspired me and it gave me, like, a positive kick.”
Despite a near-flawless display against Pavlyuchenkova, Swiatek believes there is still room for improvement.
“It’s not like my tennis is perfect,” the five-time Grand Slam winner said.
“It is weird because I have been number one and winning tournaments, I feel I need to work on some stuff.”
Pavlyuchenkova, stung by a 6-0 6-0 loss to Swiatek in their previous meeting, dug deep in the opening set but was unable to recover from dropping serve in the first game.
The 25th seed couldn’t compete with Swiatek as the world number one upped her level in the second set, making just one unforced error as she broke twice before serving out the victory.
She will meet Liudmila Samsonova in the fourth round after the Russian 16th seed had breezed past American Ashlyn Krueger in 62 minutes, winning 6-1 6-1.
Earlier, American Jessica Pegula underlined her title credentials with a dominant 6-3 6-3 victory against Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro.
The sixth seed has yet to drop a set in New York and the strength of her service game has been illustrated by the home hope winning 89% of her first-serve points.
Pegula, who is through to the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time this year, will next face rising star Diana Shnaider.
The 20-year-old Russian, seeded 18th, breezed past Italy’s Sara Errani in a 6-2 6-2 victory where she landed 31 winners.
Shnaider has surged up the world rankings this year after winning her first three WTA Tour titles and reaching the third round of Wimbledon.
Earlier on Saturday, Italian fifth seed Jasmine Paolini beat Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva 6-3 6-4.
French Open and Wimbledon runner-up Paolini, 28, has now made the second week of all four majors in 2024.
She will face Karolina Muchova next after the Czech, who knocked out two-time champion Naomi Osaka in the last round, claimed a comfortable 6-4 6-2 win against Russian Anastasia Potapova.
Muchova reached the semi-finals at Flushing Meadows last year before suffering a wrist injury that required surgery and sidelined her for 10 months.
Caroline Wozniacki booked her spot in the last 16 for a second year running, defeating France’s Jessika Ponchet 6-3 6-2.
The Dane will have to beat either Beatriz Haddad Maia or Anna Kalinskaya, who player later, if she is to reach the quarter-finals of a major for the first time since her run to the Australian Open title in 2018.
