Swiatek ends Inglis run at Australian Open; sets Rybakina meeting next

No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek reached her 14th career Grand Slam quarterfinal and third at the Australian Open with a 6-0, 6-3 defeat of qualifier Maddison Inglis in 73 minutes.

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There are few new situations for six-time major champion Swiatek on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz at this stage of her career, but this matchup did mark one first for Swiatek. She had never previously faced an Australian opponent at the Australian Open.

Swiatek was unfazed, allowing neither No. 168-ranked Inglis nor the Rod Laver Arena crowd to get a foothold in the match. The first "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie" chants rang out as Inglis, trailing 3-0 in the first set, reached her first game point of the day. They didn't last long. Swiatek slammed that door shut by swatting away a smash and minutes later had captured the double break en route to a whitewash set.

Inglis raised her hands to the sky when she finally got on the board at the start of the second set, capturing the Swiatek serve as the former World No. 1 mishit a backhand. But with a point to lead 2-0, she sent a forehand wide, and Swiatek wasted no time in regaining her intensity in another run of four straight games.

Though Inglis battled hard, her increased level frequently provided the canvas for Swiatek to show off more of her repertoire: a superb drop shot-pass combination at 2-1, a brilliant pickup in the subsequent game and several sharp volleys.

Swiatek's one-two punch to convert her first match point set up a quarterfinal clash against No. 5 seed Elena Rybakina. Swiatek leads their head-to-head 6-5 (including 4-2 on outdoor hard courts), but Rybakina won their only previous Australian Open meeting 6-4, 6-4 in the 2023 fourth round.

Not that those numbers are on Swiatek's mind.

"I wouldn't say head-to-head matters," she said. "Because even when one of us was winning, it was always, I don't know, a tight match or she beat me easy. Doesn't matter. Doesn't make sense to overanalyze who won the last ones or how it has been looking.

"Every match is a different story. Like on every match she's been a tough opponent, and her tennis for sure is great. I need to be 100% ready and go for it and use my experience and also the knowledge from previous matches, and that's it."

Here are the key numbers from Swiatek's win:

33: The first set was the 33rd 6-0 set Swiatek has won in a Grand Slam main draw. It was her sixth at the Australian Open, following her defeats of Harriet Dart (6-3, 6-0 in the 2022 first round), Cristina Bucsa (6-0, 6-1 in the 2023 third round), Rebecca Sramkova (6-0, 6-2 in the 2025 second round), Emma Raducanu (6-1, 6-0 in the 2025 third round) and Eva Lys (6-0, 6-1 in the 2025 fourth round).

6: Swiatek has reached her sixth consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal. At 24 years old, she is the youngest player to accomplish this since Serena Williams between Roland Garros 2002 and Wimbledon 2003. The last time Swiatek lost before the last eight of a major was at Wimbledon 2024, to Yulia Putintseva in the third round.

24: World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka has also reached six consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinals (she is on an overall streak of 13, not counting her absence from Wimbledon 2024). It's 24 years since two players both reached six major quarterfinals in a row -- the last time was between Wimbledon 2001 and the US Open 2002, when Venus Williams and Jennifer Capriati put together simultaneous streaks.

6: Swiatek's win completes the 2026 Australian Open quarterfinal lineup. It includes all Top 6 seeds in the draw -- No. 1 Sabalenka, No. 2 Swiatek, No. 3 Coco Gauff, No. 4 Amanda Anisimova, No. 5 Rybakina and No. 6 Jessica Pegula. The last time all Top 6 seeds made the last eight of a major was at the 1998 US Open -- No. 1 Martina Hingis, No. 2 Lindsay Davenport, No. 3 Jana Novotna, No. 4 Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, No. 5 Venus Williams and No. 6 Monica Seles.

The last time this occurred at the Australian Open was in 1991 -- No. 1 Stefanie Graf, No. 2 Seles, No. 3 Mary Joe Fernandez, No. 4 Gabriela Sabatini, No. 5 Katerina Maleeva and No. 6 Sánchez Vicario.

The Top 6 ATP seeds have also all reached the quarterfinals this week -- No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, No. 2 Jannik Sinner, No. 3 Alexander Zverev, No. 4 Novak Djokovic, No. 5 Lorenzo Musetti and No. 6 Alex De Minaur. It is the first time in the Open Era that the Top 6 WTA and ATP seeds have all made the last eight of one major.