Swiatek eases past Siniakova in Australian Open first round

World No.2 Iga Swiatek of Poland got her 2025 Australian Open campaign off to a victorious start with a 6-3, 6-4 first-round win over 50th-ranked Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic on Monday.

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Five-time Grand Slam singles champion Swiatek, who is seeking her first Australian Open title, needed 1 hour and 21 minutes to hold off Siniakova, a nine-time Grand Slam champion in doubles and the current WTA Doubles World No.1.

Here are more facts and figures surrounding 2022 Australian Open semifinalist Swiatek’s opener:

23: Swiatek is now a nearly-perfect 23-1 in Grand Slam first-round matches. Her sole first-round loss at a major was to Viktorija Golubic at 2019 Wimbledon, which was just the third Grand Slam main draw of her career.

8: In the first singles meeting between the two highly decorated players, Swiatek won her first eight service points of Monday’s match on John Cain Arena. But Siniakova made a concerted effort to stay aggressive in rallies and occasionally pinned the No.2 seed back in the court.

50: After an early exchange of breaks, Swiatek ramped up the speed on her groundstrokes, forcing Siniakova into more errors and claiming the last two games of the first set. Swiatek won exactly 50 percent of points on return in the opening frame (11 of 22).

15: Siniakova has already posted a Top 2 win in a Grand Slam, beating then-No.1 Naomi Osaka at 2019 Roland Garros. The Czech continued to show flashes of brilliant form as the match progressed, winning three games in a row to lead 3-2 in the second set.

But Swiatek again raised her game at crunch time, claiming four of the next five games to prevail. Siniakova actually had more winners than Swiatek in the match (19 to 17), but Swiatek kept her unforced error total significantly lower, with just 15 to Siniakova’s 23.

1: After being edged out by Aryna Sabalenka for the year-end World No.1 ranking in 2024, Swiatek is in the hunt to reclaim the top spot this fortnight. Here are the scenarios for the No.1 ranking, with Coco Gauff also in the mix.

49: Swiatek’s second-round opponent is placed one spot higher than Siniakova in the PIF Singles Rankings: World No.49 Rebecca Sramkova of Slovakia. Sramkova overcame American Katie Volynets 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 in the first round, and will now face Swiatek for the first time.

The 28-year-old Sramkova was one of last year’s most improved players. She started 2024 outside the Top 100, but won her first WTA singles title in Hua Hin and made two other finals to soar into the Top 50 for the first time in her career.

More to come….