MELBOURNE, Australia — In a highly-anticipated Australian Open first-round match between two Grand Slam champions, World No.1 Iga Swiatek of Poland survived a stern challenge from Sofia Kenin of the United States in Rod Laver Arena, in Melbourne on Tuesday.
In the pair’s first match since they met in the Roland Garros final four years ago, World No.1 Swiatek came from a break down twice in the first set against the woman who won her only major title in Melbourne in 2020.
The American, that season’s WTA Player of the Year, led 3-1 and served for a one-set lead at 5-4. But Swiatek wrapped up the opener after more than an hour on court — in a set in which she hit 21 winners to 12 — and won the last five games in a 7-6(2), 6-2 victory that lasted 1 hour and 51 minutes.
“I felt a little bit off in terms of the timing. You could see I played a couple of frames,” Swiatek said according to wtatennis.
“For sure, the temperature was higher than any match I played this season. I needed to adjust to that. The balls were a little bit flying out of control. That’s normal in these conditions.
“At the beginning I knew I could do a little bit more in terms of the placement. I wanted to be more aggressive.
“But on the other hand I was backing down a little bit. I just wanted to go forward and be proactive and have initiative. For sure when I started second set, it was a little bit easier for me to do that.”
Swiatek has now won her last 17 matches dating back to a loss to Veronika Kudermetova in Tokyo on Sept. 28.
It’s the longest winning streak on the Hologic WTA Tour since Swiatek posted a 37-match win streak in 2022.
“For sure I can’t say that I have easy draw here,” Swiatek said. “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.
Swiatek snapped Kenin’s four-match winning streak inside Rod Laver Arena. The American won her last three rounds in Melbourne’s main stadium in her 2020 title run, and her opening match the next year.
After Swiatek edged the first set tiebreak, she saved all three break points she faced in the second set.
The first came in her first service game, which stretched to four deuces, and she wiped away a 15-40 threat in the sixth game after she broke Kenin previously at 2-2.
With her left thigh strapped, Kenin was returning well and her was backhand on fire.
But she wobbled in the sixth game, with back-to-back double faults gifting Swiatek a break back for 3-3.
Undeterred, Kenin earned another break with a searing backhand to move 5-4 ahead only to falter again serving for the set.
It went to a tiebreak, where the top seed stepped up to get over the line after a marathon 68 minutes.
The second set was equally tight until game five, when Kenin slapped a forehand wide to hand Swiatek two break points and she converted when the American pounded a backhand long.
It was a killer blow, with Kenin having nothing left in the tank as the world number one sprinted to the finish line.
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