On Monday, January 19, 2026, Paris Olympic bronze medalist Iga Swiatek earned a hard-fought victory in the first-round match of the ongoing Australia Open 2026 held at the Rod Laver Arena. The Polish tennis star defeated China’s Yuan Yue by sets of 7-6 (5), 6-3 in a two-hour contest. The win was much needed for Swiatek, who had suffered defeats in her last two singles matches, one against Coco Gauff and the other against Belinda Bencic.
Swiatek will next face Chezh’s Marie Bouzkova in the second round of the event on Wednesday, January 21. Post-match victory, Swiatek stressed what went wrong and how she came back from the struggles in the match against Yue. Despite a struggling start, she managed to get up from the middle set.
Swiatek said, “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. 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.”
With four titles won each in the French Open, US Open, and Wimbledon, along with a title in Melbourne Park, the 24-year-old Polish star has qualified in two semi-final matches of the Australian Open but has never gone past it. Swiatek is, however, looking ahead to completing her career Grand Slam with the victory in the 2026 season. If won, she will be the seventh women’s tennis player in the Open era to win the title and the third in the youngest category after legends Steffi Graf and Serena Williams.
Meanwhile, world No. 130 Yuan of China put up a strong fight against Swiatek. In the first set, Yuan dominated early by taking the lead over Swiatek, but she soon went on to level the score at 3-3, and the Chinese player again struck back. The Polish star, however, ended with 21 unforced errors. In the second set, Swiatek steered clear with a 3-0 lead, but a medical timeout from Yuan, who suffered a lower back issue during the match, turned things around. Despite that, Yuan goes on to add two points to stay alive in the game, but the Polish star dominates in the end.
