Iga Swiatek Battles Past Yuan Yue To Make Australian Open 2026 Second Round

Iga Swiatek survived a huge scare on Monday, January 19, 2026, at the Australian Open 2026. Swiatek battled past Chinese qualifier Yuan Yue to move to the second round after a wobbly start to the match.

The world no.2 was pushed to her limit before prevailing 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 after more than two hours to advance to the second round. Notably, this victory was a welcome boost for Iga Swiatek as she had lost her last two singles matches at the lead-up United Cup to Coco Gauff and Belinda Bencic, respectively.

After winning Wimbledon last year, along with her four French Open titles and her victory at the 2022 U.S. Open, the Australian Open is the only major missing from her collection.

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Iga Swiatek Advances To Next Round In Australian Open After Gritty Opener

Swiatek's opponent, Yuan, was swinging winners as she took the 5-3 lead against the Polish international early in the game. It was then that Swiatek locked in and changed things up to set up her next match against Czech player Marie Bouzkova in the next round.

Following the match, Iga Swiatek shared, "I was a bit rusty at the beginning, I didn't really start well and she used the opportunity. But I knew if I could put the hard work in, I would play better. So that's what I tried to do from the middle of the first set."

She further continued, "I'm happy that it worked. For sure, many ups and downs, I have some stuff to work on, so I'll just focus on that."

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What Went Down In Swiatek's Australian Open Opener?

World no. 130, Yuan Yue, looked unfazed, facing Iga Swiatek as she easily broke the Polish player's shaky first service game and consolidated with a hold. Iga Swiatek had to survive a break point on her next serve, but she settled down and got on the board.

Things finally started to look good for the Polish international when Yuan served for the set. With her powerful groundstrokes, it was too much for Yuan to handle. This was followed by a tiebreaker, where Swiatek again had to fight hard before getting over the line, with 21 unforced errors in the set.

After Yuan had a medical timeout for a lower back issue, the match seemed to be over as Swaitek had already raced 3-0 clear in the second set.

The 27-year-old won the next two sets to advance to the next round in the Australian Open 2026.