Australian Open: 'It Wasn't an Easy First Round,' Says Swiatek After Hard-Fought Win

The win extended Swiatek's perfect record in first-round matches at the tournament.

Second seed Iga Swiatek started her Australian Open campaign with a hard-fought first-round victory on Monday, defeating the Czech Republic's Katerina Siniakova 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 21 minutes.

The win extended Swiatek's perfect record in first-round matches at the tournament.

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The 28-year-old Siniakova, a nine-time Grand Slam doubles champion, was facing Swiatek. The Polish star relied on a dominant first serve to secure the victory.

She landed 71 per cent of her first serves with an average speed of 168 km/h and won 79 per cent of those points. In contrast, Siniakova, ranked No. 50, managed 60 per cent of first serves and won 56 per cent of those points.

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While Siniakova hit two more winners than Swiatek, she also committed eight additional unforced errors.

"For sure it wasn't an easy first round, so I'm happy that I'm through," Swiatek said post-match. "She was playing really well and I just needed to be more proactive and in the second set I did that, so I was happy."

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The opening set saw the players hold serve for the first five games until Swiatek broke to take a 5-3 lead and served out the set. She took this momentum into the second set, taking an early 2-0 lead. Siniakova however fought back to take a 3-2 lead before Swiatek elevated her game to close out the match.

A sixth Grand Slam title at Melbourne Park would regain Swiatek the No. 1 ranking which she had once held for 75 consecutive weeks from 2022 to 2023, and then through October 2024.

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Swiatek has been drawn to face Slovakia's Rebecca Sramkova in the second round; Siniakova will play women's doubles, where she and Taylor Townsend of the US are seeded number one.

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