Swiatek quashes performance fears ahead of AO
Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek are two top-seeded women’s players at the 2026 Australian Open, but their matches on Sunday night couldn’t have been more different.
While Sabalenka won her 22nd career title by lifting the cup in Brisbane, world number 2 Swiatek burst into tears as she suffered another defeat before the first grand slam of the year.
World No. 2 Iga Swiatek in her match against Belinda Bencic on Sunday night.Credit: Getty Images
The shining light for Swiatek was Poland winning the Unified Cup final despite surrendering three sets to Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic, and her country finally lifting a trophy after being bridesmaids of the tournament in 2024 and 2025.
But a racquet toss as she entered the team court after her match summed up Swiatek’s results ahead of the Australian Open, and she heads to Melbourne Park with back-to-back defeats after also falling to Coco Gauff on Saturday night.
But by the time Swiatek and the Polish team entered the press conference room around 1am, anger and disappointment had been replaced by joy, and the world No. 2 quickly dismissed concerns about her health after breaking down in tears on the field twice this week.
“Everything is fine, it’s just very painful. I think the cost of the first tournament of the year is a little different depending on the season, but I had a similar experience last year,” he said.
“I’ll take a few days off to recover well. Also, I know these team events, I love them, but they really take a lot of energy out of you, so I still need to figure out how to balance that in the future.”
“Because I get so excited on the bench that it’s almost like I’m playing a match. It’s all good, of course, physically I wasn’t the best version of myself in the second set and I definitely used that to push me, but of course I’ll try to sort that out before the Australian Open.”
