Opening matches at the majors are never easy – even for multiple Grand Slam champions – and so it proved for Iga Swiatek during her first test under the Rod Laver Arena lights at Australian Open 2026 on Monday evening.
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The six-time major winner had to survive an early spell of fearless ball-striking from Chinese qualifier Yuan Yue, recovering from 3-5 in the first set before eventually moving into the second round 7-6(5) 6-3.
Swiatek will be back to face Czech Marie Bouzkova as the Pole bids for a maiden Australian Open title to become the seventh woman in the Open Era to complete a career Grand Slam.
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“For sure I was a bit rusty at the beginning, didn’t really start well,” Swiatek admitted afterwards.
“I knew if I put the hard work in I would start to play better, so that’s what I tried to do from the middle of the first set. I’m happy that it worked. Many ups and downs, and I have some stuff to work on.
“I started a bit tight so I needed to get my legs moving and go after my shots … I needed to react a bit quicker and not be pushed back.
“It wasn’t perfect, but I’m happy because it’s hard to win matches when everything isn’t going well. Today it wasn’t but I managed to win, so that’s good. My focus was better since 5-3 in the first set and in the tiebreaker it kind of peaked.
“I used my chances.”
After defeats to Coco Gauff and Belinda Bencic during the United Cup, there had been question marks over Swiatek’s form and confidence coming into the tournament.
And as soon as the opening game, when world No.130 Yuan began hammering groundstrokes in the second seed's direction, it was obvious it had the potential to turn into an uncomfortable night.
Yuan has been as high as No.36 in the WTA rankings, owns one tour title and had come through three tough matches to qualify. It was clear those wins had left her match-tight and confident, as she took the contest to the second seed during the opening hour.
The 27-year-old from Yangzhou in east China looked composed, and some aggressive returning helped her break in the very first game. Moments later she’d built a surprise 2-0 lead.
It wasn’t until the sixth game that Swiatek, who lost to eventual champion Madison Keys in last year’s Melbourne Park semifinal, was able to get back on level terms when a big crosscourt forehand on break point brought it back to 3-all.
Swiatek’s relief didn’t last long, however. Back came Yuan with more aggression from deep in the court to break for a second time. Good use of the kick serve to the ad court kept Swiatek under pressure in the next game, and another wild forehand miss from the Pole left her trailing 5-3.
Great champions have a knack of finding something special when required, and with Yuan serving for the set Swiatek tidied up her game, making better decisions about when to attack and when to extend rallies.
The favourite then produced one of her best shots of the match on one of the biggest points, hammering a backhand winner onto the outside of the sideline on break point to level at 5-5.
Swiatek was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief when she pulled clear from 4-4 in the tiebreak to seal a crucial shootout 7-5.
That passage seemed to get the four-time Roland Garros winner back on track and she quickly broke twice to sprint into a 3-0 second set lead.
But even after treatment from the physio for a back injury at the 3-0 sit-down, Yuan kept fighting and causing problems, and ensured the middle section of the second set stayed tight.
The qualifier survived a long game on serve to keep it to a single break at 4-3 only for Swiatek to finally pull away and cross the finish line after exactly two hours on court.