Australian Open: World No 1 Swiatek beats former champ Kenin to move into second round
Swiatek to next face American Danielle Collins, who beat her in the 2022 semi-finals in Melbourne
Iga Swiatek competes at the 2024 Australian Open
Poland’s Iga Swiatek reached the second round of the Australian Open by winning against American Sofia Kenin in straight sets although the world No 1 did not have things all her own way.
The Pole came back from a break down on two occasions in the first set against the big-hitting Kenin, who won the title in Melbourne in 2020 as a 21-year-old. Once she claimed the first set in a tiebreak, Swiatek looked more comfortable and came through a 7-6 (2), 6-2 winner in one hour and 52 minutes.
“I’m happy at the end of the set I could win the most important points” – Swiatek
This was her second win in as many matches over Kenin, the first coming in the French Open final in 2020 which Swiatek won 6-4, 6-1.
“For sure, it wasn’t the easiest first round. She played really well. I tried to find my rhythm, especially in the first set. I’m happy at the end of the set I could win the most important points. I’m happy that I am through and I could play a little bit better in the second set,” Swiatek told the press after her win on Tuesday.
Swiatek will next play American Danielle Collins, a former runner-up in Melbourne. The world No 1 has a 5-1 edge in head-to-head over the American but Collins’ lone win over Swiatek came here in Melbourne two years ago in the semi-finals.
“I’ll try to do my best. Danielle is a really good player. We played really tight matches. On the other hand our last match was pretty — I mean, from the score, I had it under control. We’ll see,” the Pole said looking ahead to her second round match. “Every match is different. I’m not going to anticipate anything. I’m just going to be ready and we’ll see.”
The Pole has started the 2024 season with a 6-0 record and is also on a 17-match winning streak. The win also marked her 36th consecutive opening match win.
Melbourne (Grand Slam), other first-round matches (Melbourne Park, hard, USD 58,910,000):
- Martina Trevisan beat Renata Zarazua (Q): 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
- Daria Kasatkina (14) beat Peyton Stearns: 6-2, 3-6, 6-2
- Sloane Stephens beat Olivia Gadecki (WC): 6-3, 6-1
- Elisabetta Cocciaretto beat Lulu Sun (Q): 6-1, 7-5
- Caroline Garcia (16) beat Naomi Osaka: 6-4, 7-6 (2)
- Anna Kalinskaya beat Katie Volynets (Q): 6-3, 3-6, 6-2
- Mirra Andreeva beat Bernarda Pera: 7-5, 6-2
- Arantxa Rus beat Anhelina Kalinina (24): 6-1, 6-0
- Paula Badosa beat Taylor Townsend: 6-1, 6-3
- Beatriz Haddad Maia (10) beat Linda Fruhvirtova: 6-2, 3-6, 6-2
- Ons Jabeur (6) beat Yulia Starodubtseva (Q): 6-3, 6-1
- Viktorija Golubic beat Veronika Kudermetova (15): 7-6 (4), 1-6, 6-1
- Anastasia Zakharova (Q) beat Yulia Putintseva: 2-6, 6-0, 6-3
- Katerina Siniakova beat Jaqueline Cristian: 6-2, 7-5
- Elise Mertens (25) beat Mayar Sherif: 6-2, 2-0 ret.
- Magdalena Frech beat Daria Saville (WC): 6-7 (5), 6-3, 7-5
- Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova beat Donna Vekic (21): 6-4, 6-4
- Jasmine Paolini (26) beat Diana Shnaider: 6-3, 6-4
- Marta Kostyuk beat Claire Liu: 6-3, 4-6, 6-1
- Rebeka Masarova beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich: 6-3, 6-4
- Mccartney Kessler (WC) beat Fiona Ferro (Q): 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
- Tatjana Maria beat Camila Osorio: 7-5, 6-7 (4), 6-4
- Laura Siegemund beat Ekaterina Alexandrova (17): 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (9)
- Kaja Juvan beat Anastasia Potapova (23): 6-1, 6-4
- Coco Gauff (4) beat Anna Karolina Schmiedlova: 6-3, 6-0
- Dayana Yastremska (Q) beat Marketa Vondrousova (7): 6-1, 6-2
- Nadia Podoroska beat Tamara Zidansek: 6-1, 6-0
- Storm Hunter (Q) beat Sara Errani: 6-4, 6-3
- Varvara Gracheva beat Yanina Wickmayer: 6-3, 6-4
- Viktoriya Tomova beat Kayla Day: 6-4, 6-2
- Elina Svitolina (19) beat Taylah Preston (WC): 6-2, 6-2
- Linda Noskova beat Marie Bouzkova (31): 6-1, 7-5
- Aryna Sabalenka (2) beat Ella Seidel (Q): 6-0, 6-1
- Caroline Wozniacki (WC) beat Magda Linette (20): 6-2, 2-0 ret.
- Caroline Dolehide beat Leolia Jeanjean (Q): 6-2, 6-4
- Alina Korneeva (Q) beat Sara Sorribes Tormo: 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
- Amanda Anisimova beat Liudmila Samsonova (13): 6-3, 6-4
- Diane Parry beat Xinyu Wang (30): 6-3, 2-6, 6-3
- Maria Sakkari (8) beat Nao Hibino: 6-4, 6-1
- Brenda Fruhvirtova (Q) beat Ana Bogdan: 2-6, 6-4, 6-3
- Maria Timofeeva (Q) beat Alize Cornet (WC): 6-2, 6-4
- Alycia Parks beat Daria Snigur (Q): 2-6, 6-2, 6-4
- Tamara Korpatsch beat Jodie Burrage: 2-6, 6-3, 6-0
- Elina Avanesyan beat Zhuoxuan Bai: 4-6, 7-5, 6-2
- Barbora Krejcikova (9) beat Mai Hontama (WC): 2-6, 6-4, 6-3
- Lesia Tsurenko (28) beat Lucia Bronzetti: 3-6, 7-5, 6-3
- Kamilla Rakhimova beat Emina Bektas: 6-4, 6-4
- Leylah Fernandez (32) beat Sara Bejlek (Q): 7-6 (5), 6-2
- Rebecca Marino vs. Jessica Pegula
- Elena Rybakina vs. Karolina Pliskova
- Petra Martic vs. Ajla Tomljanovic
- Emma Raducanu vs. Shelby Rogers
- Qinwen Zheng vs. Ashlyn Krueger
- Yafan Wang vs. Sorana Cirstea
- Aleksandra Krunic vs. Clara Burel
- Katie Boulter vs. Yue Yuan
- Cristina Bucsa vs. Anna Blinkova
- Camila Giorgi vs. Victoria Azarenka
- Jelena Ostapenko vs. Kimberly Birrell
- Emma Navarro vs. Xiyu Wang
- Lin Zhu vs. Oceane Dodin
- Greet Minnen vs. Clara Tauson
- Danielle Collins vs. Angelique Kerber
