Elina Svitolina books place in second round of US Open after battling past Katerina Siniakova

Svitolina, who began the day as one of seven women still in with a chance of topping the rankings in 12 days’ time, won 6-0, 6-7, 6-3

Elina Svitolina in action during the third set (Getty)

Elina Svitolina is still in contention to finish the US Open as world No 1, but the 22-year-old Ukrainian had to come from behind to beat the Czech Republic’s Katerina Siniakova here on Wednesday before securing her place in the second round. Svitolina, who began the day as one of seven women still in with a chance of topping the rankings in 12 days’ time, won 6-0, 6-7, 6-3.

Twenty-fours after beginning their match in the temporary Louis Armstrong Stadium, Svitolina and Siniakova returned to complete it after the previous day had ended in frustration. Svitolina had won the first set and was leading 2-1 in a tie-break at the end of the second set when rain sent the players scurrying off the court.

Play was eventually called off for the day, but the weather cleared overnight and when the match resumed on Wednesday morning the sun was shining from a clear-blue sky.

Siniakova took the second set after winning the tie-break 7-5 (Getty)

Svitolina had been on top for most of the previous day, but the world No 4 made a slow start on the resumption. Siniakova won the first four points and Svitolina went three set points down when she missed a forehand. An unforced backhand error on the third of them enabled Siniakova to take the tie-break 7-5.

Siniakova has recorded three victories over top 10 players this year and won the second title of her career in Bastad last month. She had won only one match in her two previous appearances at Flushing Meadows, but threatened an upset when she broke Svitolina in the opening game of the third set.

The world No 42 likes to go for her shots, but although she hits plenty of winners she also makes more than her fair share of errors. Svitolina, a more consistent ball-striker, made regular inroads into Siniakova’s service games and from 0-2 down won six of the last seven games to take the match.

“I was a little unlucky to stop yesterday because I was playing good and feeling good,” Svitolina said afterwards. “It was tough to keep the focus. She had nothing to lose today, so she was playing very freely. She’s a good player. She knows how to come back into the game. I was kind of expecting this from her.”

Elina Svitolina thought she had played “solid tennis” to win the third set (Getty)

Svitolina thought she had played “solid tennis” to win the third set. “I was just trying to fight for every ball,” she said. “There is no other way you can win the match if you are not mentally strong. You just fight until the end and wait for the opportunity. That’s what I did and it worked.”

In the second round Svitolina will take on Russia’s Evgeniya Rodina, who added to Eugenie Bouchard’s woes at this tournament when she beat the Canadian 7-6, 6-1.

Bouchard has not won a match here since 2015, when her tournament ended in pain and controversy when she suffered concussion after a fall in a locker room and pulled out of her subsequent fourth-round match against Roberta Vinci. The former Wimbledon finalist subsequently took out a lawsuit against the United States Tennis Association which has yet to be resolved.

Kristina Mladenovic, the No 14 seed, was another player who returned to complete her match following the previous day’s bad weather. The Frenchwoman had lost the first set to Romania’s Monica Niculescu and was unable to turn the match around, losing 6-3, 6-2.