Iga Swiatek Makes Open Era History By Reaching The Round Of 32 At The Australian Open

Iga Swiatek kept a long grand slam streak alive at the Australian Open, easing past Marie Bouzkova to reach the third round and extend a run of 24 straight appearances in the last 32 at majors, the first time any woman achieved that across a single decade in the Open Era.

Swiatek, still chasing a first Australian Open trophy to complete the set of majors, beat Bouzkova 6-2 6-3 in under 80 minutes and added to a record that began in 2019, while also returning to the scene of last year’s semi-final loss to eventual champion Madison Keys.

The latest victory meant Swiatek became only the fourth woman in the Open Era to reach 24 consecutive grand slam third rounds, joining Martina Navratilova on 35, Conchita Martinez on 30 and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario

on 25, and the run underlined how often Swiatek reached the business end of majors during the 2020s.

Swiatek’s numbers in Melbourne continued to grow as well, with the win over Bouzkova taking the total to 24 match victories at the Australian Open, second only to Roland-Garros in Swiatek’s career, where the tally stood at 40 singles wins, reflecting how strongly Swiatek performed on both hard courts and clay.

At the same tournament, players from the United States shaped much of the women’s draw, as seven Americans progressed to round three of the Australian Open, making the USA the first nation to supply that many third-round women’s singles players in Melbourne since 2015, when the same country also placed seven names in the last 32.

Madison Keys, who defeated Swiatek in last year’s semi-finals before lifting the trophy, advanced again by beating fellow American Ashlyn Krueger 6-1 7-5, while Amanda Anisimova also stayed in control of the scoreboard as the world number four, a finalist at Wimbledon and the US Open last season, overcame Katerina Siniakova 6-1 6-4 in another straight-sets result.

Not every seeded player progressed, though, because Paula Badosa, a semi-finalist at Melbourne Park in 2025, fell 6-4 6-4 to world number 101 Oksana Selekhmeteva, while Jessica Pegula avoided a similar upset when Pegula defeated doubles partner McCartney Kessler 6-0 6-2 in a match that brought complex emotions for both players.

Pegula explained the situation after that victory, saying: "It's always tricky when you have to play someone that you know and like and also that you're playing doubles with," and then adding, "That part was just unfortunate because we obviously want to see each other do well separately - but not when we have to play each other. "

24 - Iga Swiatek is the first player in the Open Era to reach the Round of 32 of the first 24 Womens Singles Grand Slam events of a single decade. Massive. #AusOpen | @AustralianOpen @WTA pic.twitter.com/YlXbBs5kKnOptaAce (@OptaAce) January 22, 2026

With Swiatek’s decade-long consistency creating fresh statistical landmarks, and a deep United States contingent again reaching the Australian Open third round, the women’s event moved into its later stages with a leading world number one still chasing a first title in Melbourne and several American contenders building on a strong national record at the tournament.