Keeping the streak: Swiatek reaches 24th straight Major third round in Melbourne

Iga Swiatek arrived on court Thursday night in Melbourne with several streaks on the line. Chief among them: extend her perfect record against Marie Bouzkova to 3-0, ideally in straight sets once again.

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That second part looked shaky when she fell behind by a break in the second set, but the No. 2 seed never truly appeared in danger of losing the match, closing out a 6-2, 6-3 win in 1 hour and 19 minutes.

“It felt great playing today,” Swiatek said in her on-court interview. “I felt more free than in my first round, so I really wanted to go for it. And for sure, the conditions also weren’t easy. I don’t know if you guys feel that, but on the court it’s super windy.

“So I needed to adjust for that, and I’m really happy with the performance for sure.”

The victory sent her into the Australian Open third round for the seventh straight year. She has now reached the third round at 24 consecutive Grand Slam events; her last second-round exit came at the 2019 US Open, where she lost to Anastasija Sevastova.

With the result, Swiatek became the first WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz player in the Open Era to reach the Round of 32 at the first 24 women’s singles Grand Slam events of a single decade.

Here’s how she got it done:

On the approach: At one point early in the second set, Swiatek was a perfect 9-for-9 winning points when approaching the net, a clear weapon for the World No. 2, who repeatedly used forward movement to take control of rallies.

She incorporated this tactic immediately, creeping toward the net before firing a backhand winner by Bouzkova to hold for 1-0. She followed the same blueprint to guide her to a 4-1 hold, affording her a lead she would only build on before claiming the first set in 38 minutes.

Fittingly, she ended the match with one final approach, this time finishing it with a forehand winner to seal the win.

Tour’s best frontrunner: That forehand was one of 31 winners Swiatek hit (compared to just three from Bouzkova), many coming after she built comfortable leads in each set. There’s a saying that fits her game well: give an inch, take a mile. Because, if an opponent offers even a sliver of space, Swiatek tends to take far more.

Exhibit A: the second set. Bouzkova broke for a 2-1 lead and consolidated for 3-1 but left the door open just a crack. Swiatek burst through, converting her third break point of the game to level at 3-3.

In all, she reeled off five straight games to finish the match, taking the lead and never looking back.

Give an inch, take a mile.

What’s next: Swiatek will face No. 31 seed Anna Kalinskaya in the third round. 

She leads their head-to-head 2-1, losing in Dubai last season, but winning their two most recent meetings in Cincinnati and at the US Open in straight sets.

A third win in a row would send her to the Australian Open fourth round for the sixth time and keep alive her bid to complete the career Grand Slam with a title in Melbourne.