No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek came through a topsy-turvy three-setter against No. 31 seed Anna Kalinskaya in the Australian Open third round, advancing 6-1, 1-6, 6-1 in 1 hour and 44 minutes.
Australian Open: Scores | Draws | Order of play
Swiatek advanced to the second week of a major for the 21st time in 28 main draws, and for the sixth time in eight Australian Open appearances. She’ll next face the last home hope — and the last qualifier — standing, Maddison Inglis. The World No. 168, who had to save two match points in her first qualifying round against Leyre Romero Gormaz, advanced via walkover after Naomi Osaka withdrew due to a left abdominal injury.
It will be the first time that Swiatek has played a Australian player at the Australian Open. She has faced Inglis on her home turf before, though, winning 6-1, 6-2 in the 2021 Adelaide second round en route to her first hard-court title.
Swings and roundabouts: Momentum swung wildly between Swiatek and Kalinskaya throughout the contest — and in each set, the player who seized it early on ran away with it. Swiatek was near-flawless on serve in the first set, winning 17 out of 20 points behind her delivery; by contrast, Kalinskaya dropped her opening service game from game point up with a slew of backhand errors, setting the tone for a blink-and-miss-it 24-minute set against her.
After receiving treatment on her back during a medical timeout between sets, Kalinskaya began striking the ball with greater freedom and accuracy in the second set. Having found just three winners in the opener, she fired 10 in the second set. The key game was her hold for 4-1: Swiatek had already broken back once, and held three points to do so again, but Kalinskaya saved all three with unreturned serves.
Swiatek, who had contributed several wild unforced errors in the second set, regained her intensity in the third. She did not face a game point as she leapt out to a 5-0 lead, and though Kalinskaya made her work to close it out in a four-deuce final game, Swiatek landed a forehand winner on the line to convert her second match point.
Swiatek unsurprised by Kalinskaya test: Kalinskaya had been a potential banana-skin opponent for Swiatek. Her flat, aggressive game style had already garnered her one win over the Pole, in the 2024 Dubai semifinals, and she pushed Swiatek hard in a 7-6(2), 6-4 loss in last year’s US Open third round. Moreover, Kalinskaya had played her part in two of the best matches of this year’s Australian Open warm-ups, stretching Jessica Pegula and Victoria Mboko to tight three-setters in Brisbane and Adelaide respectively.
“It’s not surprising for me because I know that Anna can play amazing tennis,” Swiatek said of the unusual scoreline. “And on the other hand she’s risking a lot, so at the same time she might start playing out. I just wanted to be there when I have a chance, when I have a slower ball, to still be proactive and put pressure on her. I didn’t feel I was playing worse in the second set, I felt like she just started playing in all the balls that went out in the first.”
