Iga Swiatek steels past former champion Sofia Kenin to kick off 2024 Australian Open campaign

Iga Swiatek passed the first test of her tricky 2024 Australian Open draw, edging past Sofia Kenin, 7-6 (2), 6-2 to reach the second round.

"It wasn't easy to find my rhythm at the beginning and I felt a little bit off," Swiatek said on court after the match. "I felt like Sofia did everything to keep it that way, so huge respect to her. She won this tournament, so she knows what to do. But I'm happy that I managed to bring my level up in the second set."

Swiatek twice trailed the 2020 champion by a break in the opening set but thrilled the Rod Laver Arena crowd with some tenacious play to extend her winning streak to 17 straight and ultimately advance in one hour and 51 minutes.

"Honestly, I try not to focus on who is going to be on the other side of the net. I want to play my game, and I know that if I want to play well at this tournament, I have to be able to win against everyone. If I'm worth to be in the second round, it doesn't matter who I’m playing against. Tennis is a pretty tricky sport with the draws; you can play former champions, world No. 1s or really experienced players. You never know who is going to be there, so you have to be ready no matter what."

The last match between Swiatek and Kenin took place in the finals of 2020 Roland Garros, where the former clinched the first of her four Grand Slam titles and the latter made her second major final of a pandemic-impacted season. Despite sharing the auspicious moment on Court Philippe-Chatrier, the two have taken wildly divergent paths in the three years since.

While Swiatek went on to clinch the No. 1 ranking, a spot she has occupied largely uninterrupted since ascending in the spring of 2022; the 22-year-old hasn't lost a match since September and put together a 5-0 record to start the new season at the United Cup. Kenin, by contrast, has struggled with injuries and inconsistencies, dropping as low as No. 460 that same season.

Still, Kenin has proven she can still be a dangerous floater in any draw, the highlight of a solid 2023 season coming at Wimbledon, where she upset Coco Gauff in the first round. Looking to repeat the feat against Swiatek, who has only lost one first round out of 19 Grand Slam appearances, the 25-year-old was hitting her spots early, overwhelming the Pole with her flat hitting.

Frustration over an automatic line call saw Kenin hand back her initial 3-1 lead, but the unseeded American was soon up another break as Swiatek struggled to serve into the sun.

Swiatek turned the tables on Kenin as she served for the set, and raced through the ensuing tiebreak to seal the opening set behind an impressive 21 winners to 12.

A tense second set came to a head in the fifth game when Swiatek, who had already saved break point on her own serve, converted her second chance as Kenin erred on the backhand side. Kenin continued to apply pressure but the top seed consolidated with some strong serving and nabbed an insurance break behind a Kenin double fault. Serving for a spot in the second round, Swiatek forced one last forehand error from Kenin to edge over the finish line.

In spite of a nervous start, she compiled a stat sheet worthy of a world No. 1, ending the match with a positive differential of winners to unforced errors while converting four of nine break point opportunities and saving three of the five she faced.

Swiatek will likely get little relief in the next round, where she awaits the winner of another all-star clash: 2022 finalist Danielle Collins, who overcame 2016 champion and former world No. 1 Angelique Kerber in three sets. Collins beat Swiatek en route to her first Grand Slam final in Melbourne two years ago.