Poland's Iga Swiatek reacts during her second round defeat of the Netherlands' Suzan Lamens at the US Open

New York (AFP) - Iga Swiatek battled into the third round of the US Open on Thursday, needing three sets to edge past the Netherlands’ lowly ranked Suzan Lamens.

Second seed Swiatek advanced to a meeting against Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, victory in two hours and six minutes on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court.

The Polish ace – the pre-tournament betting favourite – had looked to be romping through to the next round after rattling through the opening set in 30 minutes.

Swiatek then appeared poised to wrap up a straightforward win after breaking Lamens for a 4-3 lead in the second set.

Yet Lamens, the world number 66, broke back immediately to make it 4-4 when Swiatek double-faulted on break point in the next game.

Lamens held serve and then broke Swiatek for the third time in the match to take the set and force a decider.

Lamens’ fightback though ran out of steam in the third, with Swiatek going a double break up for a 4-1 lead, before closing out victory.

“It wasn’t an easy match. I did some mistakes,” Swiatek said after her win.

“I felt like it depended on me and if I made mistakes or not, sometimes I did. I probably got a little tight in the second set. Third set is a reset and you’ve got to start from the beginning.”