"It was like the most popular first round of a slam ever, it shows how much she has changed our sport and how much she has done"- Iga Swiatek on Serena Williams

According to Iga Swiatek, the popularity of Serena Williams' opening-round encounter at the US Open displayed the influence of the American on the sport.

World No. 1 Swiatek advanced to the second round of the US Open on Tuesday by winning in straight sets over Italian Jasmine Paolini. The top-seeded player, who has never made it past the fourth round in New York, won the match 6-3, 6-0, in 1 hour and 7 minutes at the Louis Armstrong Stadium.

The Pole was questioned about Serena Williams' first-round match at the New York Major in a press conference following her opening-round triumph. Swiatek said that the match was one of the most popular first-round matches in a Major, adding that the excitement of the crowd during the match demonstrated how much the 23-time Grand Slam champion has contributed to the sport.

"For sure it was like the most popular first round of a slam ever. Yeah, it's just amazing. It shows how much she has changed our sport and how much she has done. I'm pretty happy that she can experience something like that," Iga Swiatek said.

"I also feel that not every player would handle that kind of fuss around your first match of the tournament. She's handling it pretty well, as usual. So that's just confirmation of how great she is," she added further.

Iga Swiatek also discussed Serena Williams' second-round matchup with Anett Kontaveitt, saying that while she finds it difficult to predict the result, the American is "looking better" every time she steps onto the court.

"Well, honestly I just watched like few games yesterday, so it's hard for me to say how Serena is playing.But I know Anett, yeah, it's not a mistake that she's second in the world right now. But on the other hand, I feel like, yeah, Serena is looking better and better every day. Shout-out to Rennae Stubbs (smiling). So I don't know, honestly," the Pole remarked.

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"I'm pretty happy with the performance, I feel like I have better rhythm than in Toronto and Cincinnati"- Iga Swiatek

Iga Swaitek in action at the 2022 US Open

Speaking about her opening-round clash with Jasmine Paolini, Iga Swiatek stated that she was "pretty happy" with her performance and feels that she is playing better than she did in Toronto and Cincinnati.

"Well, for sure I'm pretty happy with the performance, and I feel like I have better rhythm than in Toronto and Cincinnati so that's great. I'm trying to enjoy that," Iga Swiatek said.

According to her, she started out playing fairly well before raising her game in the second set.

"For sure in first set at the beginning, you know, I played pretty solid game, but I needed to take it up to another level. I did that at the end and in second set, so I'm pretty proud of that," she added.

The Pole will now lock horns with home favorite Sloane Stephens in the second round to take one step ahead towards her maiden US Open title.