For most tennis players, a period like Iga Swiatek’s last nine months will be a resounding success. The Pole won her maiden Wimbledon, the worthiest trophy the sport has to offer, clinched a WTA 1000 title in Cincinnati and bagged a WTA 500 crown in Seoul.

Wimbledon was her first title of any kind in over 12 months, and from a ranking of No. 8 just before the title run at the All England Club, she zoomed up to No. 2 in the world, a position she held until early last month.

‘Worst nightmare’

But Swiatek, herself, doesn’t believe this is enough. After an opening round reverse to compatriot and the then World No. 50 Magda Linette in Miami in March, a result the six-time Major champion called “the worst nightmare”, she decided to split with coach Wim Fissette, who was with her when the 24-year-old achieved all of the above results.

Fissette, who had had stints with Grand Slam winners such as Kim Clijsters, Simona Halep, Victoria Azarenka, Angelique Kerber and Naomi Osaka, had joined forces with Swiatek in October 2024, and helped her navigate a reputation-hurting, month-long suspension later that year for a positive dope test.

But none of this seemed to matter, and Swiatek, who will begin her beloved clay-court season at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart this week, has announced that she is pairing up with Francisco Roig, a long-time coach of Rafael Nadal, and someone who was part of the Spanish legend’s team for 18 years and all of his 22 Major singles titles.

So what explains Swiatek’s quandary? For one, she did not believe that the results were there to prove that the partnership with Fissette was working. Though she secured three titles last year, reached another final and climbed her way back up the rankings, the successes were concentrated in a narrow three-month window from late-June to late-September.

In seven individual competitions after the trophy-winning achievement in Seoul, Swiatek has not progressed past the quarterfinal. She has lost seven of her last eight matches against top-10 opponents, and two of her three most-recent defeats have come against those ranked 50 or below — Linette, and Maria Sakkari (No. 52) in Doha. The Linette loss was her first in the opening round since the 2021 WTA Finals. Together with the disappointment at Indian Wells, it was also the third time in the last five months that she had conceded back-to-back matches, and this too last happened at the same WTA Finals.

The trigger

“During the tournament in Doha, I realised that I didn’t feel as good on the court as before,” Swiatek told Polish media house Sport.pl. “Of course, at different tournaments, there can be various reasons for poor form, but I had the impression that I wasn’t playing that well, and started to lose confidence.

“After the loss to Sakkari, we sat down and talked for a long time. We wondered what to change and how to approach the following week so that I could get back to my solid game. And indeed, before Indian Wells, we took some steps forward. But when I took everything into account, I concluded that I needed a change.”

Iga Swiatek with Francisco Roig.
| Photo Credit:
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The use of the words “solid game” was intriguing. When she first burst onto the scene in 2020 by winning her maiden French Open as a teenager, Swiatek was a quintessential counter-puncher, sporting a top-spin heavy game and blessed with supreme athleticism.

Then, from 2022 to 2024 under coach Tomasz Wiktorowski, she infused significant amounts of no-holds-barred baseline aggression into her tennis as she amassed four Slams and spent 125 weeks as World No. 1 – the seventh best run in women’s tennis history and the most among active players.

Aggression for Swiatek is not similar to the flat power that someone like Elena Rybakina hits with but closer to the ‘Nadalesque’ way of risk-taking and bravery shown in attacking the lines. The best reflection of this came in 2022, when she went on a 37-match winning streak – still the best this century – and lifted two Majors.

In fact, in the 76 matches she played that year, she won 22 sets by a 6-0 margin and 20 by 6-1. She was named the WTA Player of the Year in 2022, and bagged the honour again a year later.

But this style also had a downside to it. When a ground-stroke broke down, match-situation tightened and she was boxed into a corner, Swiatek’s solution to break out of jail was to become more aggressive.

While champions often swear by this attitude, it is not a prudent choice when errors pile up and the need of the hour is a reset.

Nowhere is this reflected better than in her match-up against the two-time Slam winner from America Coco Gauff, who counts as her strengths some remarkable retrieving ability and propensity to extend rallies. Swiatek won 11 of their first 12 meetings, but has lost all four since then, and all of them in straight sets.

Under Fissette, she attempted to temper her play a bit, seeking to add variety and patience, and tried unlocking different dimensions.

The first signs of this working came at the 2025 Australian Open when she came within a point of making her first-ever final in Melbourne before losing a tight three-setter to eventual winner Madison Keys. “I feel like the ball is listening to me,” she said during the tournament.

Finding full expression

The summer of 2025 was when her partnership with Fissette found full expression as she won Wimbledon, thrashing Amanda Anisimova 6-0, 6-0 in a 57-minute final — a glorious display of controlled aggression and tactical nous.

At one point during the fortnight she even said: “You can still raise your intensity and be patient, and make smart decisions. It just means that you’re going to play these shots really 100%. But it doesn’t mean that they need to be like crazy.”

The current predicament for Swiatek is that this makeover has started fraying and she is unable to decide which facets in her evolution as a player are worth keeping and which are to be tweaked or shunned altogether.

After Miami, she said she was “confused” and that tennis felt “complicated”. That perhaps explains her desire to get back to the solid variety.

“I want to feel like a wall on the court again — making no mistakes and forcing my opponents to make them,” she elaborated to Sport.pl. “I’ve always had that. It was my advantage and I exerted pressure on the court, and it gave me the upper hand.

“I feel that tennis gives me the most pleasure when I am solid. When I’m not, I take unnecessary risks and make many more errors. I want to return to that solidity. I’d like to have more variety in my game, and sometimes use what I do in training during matches — to have the courage to make those decisions. But for now, I’m focusing mainly on the first part: hard work and building solidity.”

Swiatek has trusted Spaniard Roig, in pic, for this task, and his body of work suggests — at least on paper — that he may be the right person.

“The ideal coach should have an ‘eye’ for the game and an intuition of what the player needs, both in the short- and long-term,” Swiatek said recently. “[The coach] should make the right decisions as to when to introduce new shots, when to start changes in the game, and when to build the game on the player’s strengths.”

Ring-side view

Roig had a ring-side view for the entirety of Nadal’s career, and has both seen — and aided — the legend’s evolution from a clay-court expert to an all-surface master. Swiatek famously idolises Nadal, and her favourite surface is clay, as seen from the fact that four of her six Majors are on the Parisian red dirt. But her triumphs at the 2022 US Open and 2025 Wimbledon show that she has space to grow.

Locked in two of the greatest rivalries with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, Nadal developed a style that was offensive and at the same time firm. Roig, alongside Nadal’s uncle Toni and former World No. 1 Carlos Moya, is said to have had a big hand in the 14-time Roland-Garros winner consistently staying ahead of the curve.

This aspect will be important, for women’s tennis is no longer in a state of flux, and is fast developing consistent rivalries.

Aryna Sabalenka has been the world’s best since October 21, 2024 — the day Swiatek relinquished the top spot — and the four-time Slam winner from Belarus has reached the semifinals or better in 12 of her previous 13 Major appearances.

Gauff and Rybakina have both shed the tag of one-Slam wonders by securing the 2025 French Open and 2026 Australian Open respectively.

Statistically, Swiatek sits above all of them. The time has come to show why.

Madison Keys fought back from a set down on Thursday to shock Iga Swiatek in a nail-biter and set up an Australian Open final against two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka. The 19th seed battled through a thrilling semi-final on a final-set tiebreak against the world number two 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (10/8) after Sabalenka swept aside Paula Badosa in straight sets. Five-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek had not dropped her serve since the first round but was broken eight times by Keys, who saved a match point on her way to edging a titanic battle.

It will be the American’s first final in Melbourne, only her second in Slams, and she broke down in tears after finally getting over the line in 2hr 35min.

It was the first time an Australian Open semi-final had been decided by a third-set 10-point tiebreak.

“That match was just such a high level and she played so well,” Keys, 29, said.

“I felt like I was just fighting to stay in it and then obviously really kind of ran with the second and then the third was just a battle. 

“To be able to be standing here and be in the finals is absolutely amazing and I’m so excited that I get to be here on Saturday.”

Keys, the US Open runner-up in 2017, confessed she couldn’t recall much detail about the final set where she saved a match point.

“In the third set, it was just so up and down. I feel like I blacked out at some point,” Keys smiled.

“Just to be able to stay in it and just keep fighting and then a 10-point tiebreaker for a dramatic finish.”

Earlier, Sabalenka put her close friendship with Badosa aside to stay on track for a 26-year first.

The Belarusian world number one romped home 6-4, 6-2 on Rod Laver Arena against the 11th seed.

Keys predicted a slug-fest between two of the hardest ball-strikers in the women’s game in Saturday’s showpiece.

“Definitely some big hitting. I think that is going to happen,” Keys said.

“Not a lot of long points but she is obviously going for her third Aussie Open and I’m excited to get to play here.”

Keys and Sabalenka have met five times previously, with the powerful Belarusian winning four of them.

Most recently they faced off in Beijing in October in the last 16 with Sabalenka winning 6-4, 6-3. 

‘So proud’

Sabalenka is closing on a third consecutive Melbourne crown — something that hasn’t happened this century. 

The last person to achieve the feat was Martina Hingis in 1999 and only four other women have completed the three-peat — Margaret Court, Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Steffi Graf and Monica Seles.

Court was in the stadium watching.

“Honestly, I don’t know. I’m so proud of myself. I’m proud of my team that we’re able to put ourselves in such a situation,” Sabalenka, also the reigning US Open champion, said.

“It’s a privilege. If I’m able to put my name into history, it will mean a lot. It will mean the world to me.” 

Sabalenka last year described Spain’s Badosa as her “soulmate” and said she was “super happy” that they got to play each other on such a big stage.

“I hope she’s still my friend. I’m sure she’ll hate me for the next hour, day or two, but I’m okay with that, I can handle that,” she said after her semi-final rout.

Despite losing, Badosa’s run to the last four capped a remarkable comeback for the Spaniard after a brutal back injury had her considering quitting tennis a year ago.

Her Melbourne exploits will return her to the top 10 for the first time since October 2022. Keys will also return to the top 10. 

Badosa said Sabalenka was in unstoppable form.

“Sometimes you’re like, I don’t know, I’m just walking around the court because I feel like she’s playing a PlayStation,” she said.

Defending champion Jannik Sinner raced into the Australian Open semi-finals on Wednesday in imperious fashion after Iga Swiatek was equally ruthless to close on a first Melbourne crown. Italian world number one Sinner swept aside an out-classed home hope Alex de Minaur 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 to silence Rod Laver Arena and set up a meeting with 21st seed Ben Shelton. The other semi-final is between 10-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic and world number two Alexander Zverev, with both taking place on Friday.

Sinner had dizzy spells in the scorching heat of the afternoon during his four-set win against Holger Rune on Monday.

But in much cooler evening conditions the 23-year-old was back to his brilliant best against eighth seed De Minaur, who has still never beaten Sinner in 10 matches.

“Today I felt like I was feeling everything,” said Sinner.

“Days like this and you break quite early in each set, it’s a little bit easier.”

Sinner is bidding to defend a Grand Slam title for the first time after beating Daniil Medvedev in the final last year. He also won the US Open last year.

De Minaur admitted he had no answers on the night, saying: “He was bloody good tonight.”

The 22-year-old American Shelton booked his place in the semi-finals in Melbourne for the first time with a battling 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) win over unseeded Italian Lorenzo Sonego.

Left-hander Shelton put in an all-action display to match his best performance at a major, having reached the US Open semi-finals in 2023.

Shelton unleashed the joint-fastest serve of the tournament, a monster ace clocked at 232kph (144mph), and afterwards turned his fire on the post-match televised interviews that the winners do on court.

“I feel like broadcasters should be helping us grow our sport and help these athletes who just won matches on the biggest stage to enjoy one of their biggest moments,” he said.

He labelled some of the interviews “embarrassing” and “disrespectful”.

Ominous Swiatek

Five-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek edged closer to a first Australian Open crown with an emphatic 6-1, 6-2 victory over American eighth seed Emma Navarro on a gusty Rod Laver Arena.

The 23-year-old world number two, who is building up a head of steam, plays American 19th seed Madison Keys in the women’s semi-finals, which both take place on Thursday.

Two-time defending champion and top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka plays Spain’s 11th seed Paula Badosa for the other final berth.

Swiatek looks ominous. She has yet to lose a set and has dropped only 14 games in her five matches — seven of those in her first-round clash against Katerina Siniakova.

“Madison is a great player and experienced so you never know,” Swiatek cautioned.

“It will be tricky, I will just be focused on myself. She has already played a good tournament here and we are well aware of how she can play.”

Swiatek enjoyed a moment of good fortune at 2-2 in the second set against Navarro.

Navarro played a drop shot that forced the Pole into a desperate slide to get the ball, which she thought she did, until replays showed it bounced twice.

The American was left miffed when she requested the chair umpire use video review to check what happened.

But she was denied for waiting until the end of the point, rather than immediately challenging and stopping play.

“It’s tough. I think we should be able to see it afterwards and make that call,” said Navarro.

Keys stormed back from a set down to beat Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in their quarter-final.

Keys moved into the last four at Melbourne Park for the third time, 10 years after her first.

“It feels great. I’m really, really proud of myself to be in another semi-final here and kind of hoping and looking forward to see if I can make it one step further,” she said.

Keys, who will be 30 next month, is on a 10-match unbeaten streak after lifting the Adelaide title.

The World Anti-Doping Agency has said that it will not appeal against the sanctions imposed on Polish tennis player Iga Swiatek, who tested positive for a prohibited substance in August 2024. Last year, on November 28, Swiatek accepted a one-month suspension under the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme, after testing positive for the prohibited substance trimetazidine (TMZ) in an out-of-competition sample in August 2024.

But the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) had accepted that the positive test was caused by the contamination of a regulated non-prescription medication (melatonin), manufactured and sold in Poland that the player had been taking for jet lag and sleep issues and that the violation was therefore not intentional.

Now, WADA said that following a thorough review, it will not appeal against the ban given to Swiatek to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

“The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) confirms that following a thorough review, it will not lodge an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in the case of Polish tennis player, Iga Swiatek, who tested positive for trimetazidine (TMZ), a prohibited substance, in August 2024,” WADA said in a statement.

“WADA has conducted a full review of the case file related to the ITIA decision, which it received on November 29. WADA’s scientific experts have confirmed that the specific contaminated melatonin scenario, as presented by the athlete and accepted by the ITIA, is plausible and that there would be no scientific grounds to challenge it at CAS.

“Further, WADA sought advice from external legal counsel, who considered that the athlete’s contamination explanation was well evidenced, that the ITIA decision was compliant with the World Anti-Doping Code and that there was no reasonable basis to appeal it to the CAS,” it said.

Swiatek was provisionally suspended from September 12 until October 4, before successfully appealing, missing three tournaments, which counts towards the sanction. In addition, she also forfeited prize money from the Cincinnati Open, the tournament directly following the test.

On September 22, 2024, Swiatek appealed against the provisional suspension to an independent tribunal chair. The following month, ITIA confirmed that Swiatek had accepted a one-month suspension.

Time served under provisional suspension is credited against the period of ineligibility. As such, Swiatek’s period of ineligibility was until December 4, 2024. Swiatek then served the remaining eight days to December 4 to make up the month.

Iga Swiatek showed no mercy as she ended “lucky loser” Eva Lys’s historic run at the Australian Open on Monday, the world number two marching into the quarter-finals 6-0, 6-1. There was to be no happy ending to Lys’s incredible story against the ruthless five-time Grand Slam champion from Poland, who will meet either Emma Navarro or Daria Kasatkina for a place in the semi-finals. “There’s a lot to improve. I don’t feel like I’m in my peak yet,” said Swiatek, who has dropped only two games in her last two matches.

“For sure, matches like that give me confidence and I feel like I’m playing a good game.”

Swiatek has a patchy record in Melbourne, only reaching the semi-finals once, in 2022, but warned she was in the mood this year.

“I usually didn’t feel comfortable at the Australian Open with my game,” she said.

“But this year it’s a bit better. So I’m just enjoying being on the court and off the court as well.

“Because for sure I have an amazing time here, and hopefully it’s gonna last even longer.”

Lys fleetingly threatened another shock when she created two break points in the opening game, but Swiatek stepped up her pace to save both.

From then on the result was inevitable and the former world number one showed the gulf in class as she flattened the German in an hour.

Swiatek conceded just 10 points in an opening set that lasted 24 minutes.

When Swiatek took a 3-0 lead in the second, an embarrassing “double bagel” 6-0, 6-0 scoreline loomed.

But Lys finally managed to hold her serve and raised her arms in celebration with her beaming smile eliciting a massive ovation from the packed Rod Laver Arena.

The 23-year-old Swiatek has been in imperious form, dropping just 11 games in her four wins at Melbourne Park.

For world number 128 Lys it was the end of what she called “an insane story”.

She made the last 16 after getting a reprieve into the main draw, having losing in qualifying, when 13th seed Anna Kalinskaya withdrew minutes before her opening match.

Had Lys advanced she would have become the first lucky loser in history to reach the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam tournament.

But the 23-year-old had already made history by reaching the fourth round at Melbourne Park, a feat not achieved by a women’s lucky loser since the tournament moved there in 1988.

Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek are eyeing a place in the Australian Open quarter-finals on Monday while golden couple Gael Monfils and Elina Svitolina hope to extend their family odyssey. Defending champion Sinner breezed through his third-round match in straight sets but his opponent Holger Rune was taken to five for the second time in three matches. The 13th seed from Denmark needs to recover quickly before an afternoon encounter against Sinner in the heat of Rod Laver Arena, where temperatures are forecast to get into the 30s for the second day running.

“I want to raise my level in the next round match,” warned Sinner.

Lucky loser Eva Lys had to cancel her flight out of Melbourne after her surprise run to the last 16 but she faces a rampant Swiatek in the evening session.

Five-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek did not face a single break point in either of her previous two wins at Melbourne and is in a serious mood to challenge for a maiden Australian Open title.

The Pole brutally disposed of 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu 6-1, 6-0 in the third round.

“You never know what’s going to happen in the match,” said Germany’s world number 128 Lys, who is the first women’s lucky loser to reach the fourth round since the event moved to Melbourne Park 37 years ago.

“I’m just going to go out and enjoy.”

Svitolina and husband Monfils both knocked out world number fours to reach the fourth round on a super Saturday for the happy couple.

Monfils, 38, stunned Taylor Fritz 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7/1), 6-4 and Svitolina followed him on to Margaret Court Arena to oust Jasmine Paolini 2-6, 6-4, 6-0.

Ukraine’s Svitolina kicks off the day’s action on Rod Laver Arena against Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova.

Veteran Frenchman Monfils has a later engagement against American 21st seed Ben Shelton.

Svitolina and Monfils got married in 2021 and had a daughter in 2022.

“Most of the big tournaments we have each other by our sides. It means a lot to have someone who understands what I am going through,” said Svitolina.

Home hope Alex de Minaur, the eighth seed, rounds off the action on the centre court against Alex Michelsen of the US in a night match with a potential quarter-final against Sinner the prize.

Should Monfils win he could face teenager Learner Tien, who at 19 is half his age.

American Tien, who shocked Daniil Medvedev in a late-night five-set thriller, faces Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego.

In other round-four women’s singles matches, sixth seed and former finalist Elena Rybakina takes on American Madison Keys.

Rybakina is under an injury cloud after a back spasm on Saturday and said: “It’s not good. I will see my physio and hopefully he does some magic.”

Eighth-seeded American Emma Navarro, who has been taken to three sets in every match so far, will try to outlast Russian ninth seed Daria Kasatkina.

A relentless Iga Swiatek stayed on course for a maiden Australian Open title as she powered into the second week with a statement victory over Emma Raducanu on Saturday. In battle of former US Open champions, Swiatek easily had the measure of Raducanu as she romped to a 6-1, 6-0 triumph, rattling off 11 consecutive games from 1-1 in a brutal display. Five-time Grand Slam winner Swiatek hit 24 winners to Raducanu’s nine on Rod Laver Arena. “I played a few shots that I thought after them, this is what I practise for to play these kind of shots, and that’s why I really enjoyed today’s match,” said Swiatek, who was at times untouchable, committing just 12 unforced errors.

“I felt really confident, so at the end I could push for even more.

“Having converted all these break points as well was important, so I’m really happy with today’s performance.”

It was the first time that Raducanu, the 2021 Flushing Meadows winner, had reached the third round in Melbourne.

Swiatek, the 2022 champion in New York, is looking to improve on a patchy record at the Australian Open, where she has only reached one semi-final in 2022.

She is on course to do that in some style, having dropped just 10 games in her three matches so far.

She put the 22-year-old Raducanu under severe pressure from the start, forcing the Briton to save break points in her first service game.

It was to be the only game Raducanu won as the 23-year-old Pole took control, her depth, power and precision enabling her to reel off five straight games to take the set in 31 minutes.

Raducanu was feeling the heat and dropped her serve again at the start of the second.

At 0-5 30-0 on the Swiatek serve Raducanu had a brief glimmer of avoiding a dreaded 6-0 “bagel”.

But Swiatek snuffed out the chance, levelled at 30-30 with a forehand winner and an unreturned serve completed the demolition job in just 1hr 10min.

Ranked 61, Raducanu’s best Slam effort since winning the US Open has been a lone fourth-round at Wimbledon.

She pulled out of her Australian Open warm-up event in Auckland with a back niggle and needed an injury timeout for a tight leg muscle in the previous round.

Swiatek’s path to a maiden Grand Slam final is opening up.

With the in-form Coco Gauff and defending champion Aryna Sabalenka in the other half of the draw a potential semi-final against Elena Rybakina looms as her biggest hurdle.

Swiatek has a straightforward-looking assignment next against either Eva Lys from Germany, ranked 128, or Romania’s world number 82 Jaqueline Christian for a place in the quarter-finals.

Teenage qualifier Learner Tien stunned last year’s Australian Open runner-up Daniil Medvedev in an epic match ending at nearly 3:00 am Friday after defending champion Jannik Sinner roared back to take his place in the third round. Taylor Fritz was an emphatic winner in his pursuit of a maiden major title but exciting 18-year-old Joao Fonseca was edged out in a five-set thriller. The 19-year-old American Tien emerged over a gruelling four hours and 48 minutes of nailbiting action to defeat Russia’s Medvedev 6-3, 7-6 (7/4), 6-7 (8/10), 1-6, 7-6 (10/7).

The 121st-ranked Tien next faces France’s 69th-ranked Corentin Moutet after the biggest win in his young career.

Tien had defeated Argentina’s Camilo Ugo Carabelli in five sets in the first round for his maiden victory at a Grand Slam at the fourth attempt.

“I was definitely hoping it was not going to go to a fifth-set tie breaker,” said Tien.

“But just really happy to get a win. I know I made it a lot harder than it could have been, but whatever.”

It was a painful exit for former world number one Medvedev, who has lost three of the last four finals at Melbourne Park including to Sinner in 2024.

Before the late-night drama, top-ranked Sinner dropped a set for the first time in 14 matches when he lost the opener to Australian wildcard Tristan Schoolkate.

But he wrested back control after a slow start to go through 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-3 against the world number 173 at a cool and breezy Rod Laver Arena.

It was Sinner’s 16th consecutive victory in an ominous sign for next opponent Marcos Giron.

“It’s always tough to play against someone I don’t know very well. He was playing much better than I was at the beginning,” said the Italian, 23, who also won the US Open last year.

“I have to be very happy with my performance and never take things for granted. Very glad to be in the next round.

“I can improve, yes, but I’ll take it.”

Fritz swept through to a third-round clash against Gael Monfils with a brutal display of power hitting and has dropped just eight games in the tournament so far.

The American fourth seed was untouchable on Margaret Court Arena, swatting aside Chilean qualifier Cristian Garin 6-2, 6-1, 6-0 in 82 minutes.

Fritz only gave up five games to blitz past Jenson Brooksby in the first round and has spent barely three hours on court.

“Always feels great to come out and play a match like that,” said Fritz, last year’s US Open finalist.

The supremely talented Fonseca has been tipped for the top by Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic, who has said he sees shades of himself in the Brazilian.

But having stunned ninth seed Andrey Rublev in straight sets in the first round, the teenager went down to Lorenzo Sonego, the Italian pulling through 6-7 (6/8), 6-3, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 to disappoint the vocal Brazilian fans.

Sonego’s reward is a clash against Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan, who took down 17th seed Frances Tiafoe, also in five sets.

Ruthless Swiatek

In the women’s draw, Iga Swiatek set up a showdown with Emma Raducanu in the next round.

Swiatek raced past world number 49 Rebecca Sramkova 6-0, 6-2 while Britain’s Raducanu reached the third round for the first time at Melbourne Park by beating Amanda Anisimova 6-3, 7-5.

“Well for sure it’s going to be a tough one,” world number two Swiatek, a five-time Grand Slam winner but never a Melbourne champion, said as she sized up Raducanu.

“Emma can play great tennis. We all know that.”

Raducanu is seeking to claw up the rankings after an injury-hit 2024 and return to the form that brought her a shock US Open crown in 2021 as a qualifier.

“It will be a very good match for me,” said the 22-year-old.

Elena Rybakina, the sixth seed and former Wimbledon champion, raced past American wildcard Iva Jovic in straight sets.

Emma Navarro, the eighth seed from the United States, will face Ons Jabeur next after battling through three sets to beat China’s 108th-ranked Wang Xiyu.

The Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio.

“Very, very tough to breathe,” she said, adding that she may not have continued if she had lost the first set.

Fourth seed Jasmine Paolini made light work of Renata Zarazua of Mexico, winning 6-2, 6-3 despite some early nerves.

Djokovic, Alcaraz and women’s number one and defending champion Aryna Sabalenka all play on a blockbuster Friday.

So do Coco Gauff and Naomi Osaka, who are on a collision course to meet in the next round should they both win.

Iga Swiatek romped into a showdown with Emma Raducanu in early Australian Open second-round action Thursday ahead of Jannik Sinner stepping up the defence of his Melbourne Park title. Rising star Joao Fonseca will be on court again while Daniil Medvedev is looking to avoid becoming another top-10 player to be knocked out by a teenager when he faces Learner Tien. Second seed Swiatek raced past world number 49 Rebecca Sramkova 6-0, 6-2 while Britain’s Raducanu reached the Melbourne third round for the first time by beating Amanda Anisimova 6-3, 7-5.

“I felt really solid today and it was a really efficient game,” said Swiatek. Her victory sets up a high-profile clash against the 2021 US Open winner for a place in the last 16.

Raducanu, seeking to climb up the rankings after an injury-wracked 2024, said she was looking forward to the challenge of playing against the five-time Grand Slam champion.

“It will be a very good match for me. It’s an opportunity to test my game, see where I’m at,” she said.

Italian world number one Sinner won his first-round clash in straight sets and will hope for another quick victory when he takes on Australian wildcard Tristan Schoolkate in the night session on Rod Laver Arena.

By contrast, Russian firebrand Medvedev seems to like winning the hard way.

Four of his seven matches in Melbourne went the full distance a year ago, including his defeat in the final to Sinner.

And he needed another marathon to beat the 418th-ranked Kasidit Samrej on Tuesday in the first Grand Slam of the year.

Fifth seed Medvedev was 3-5 behind and on the brink of going two sets to one down against the Thai player when he saw red, slamming his racquet into the net camera repeatedly until they were both in bits.

Medvedev, who has lost three of the last four Australian Open finals, faces the up-and-coming American Tien, 19, who lost in the NextGen final to Fonseca.

The Brazilian sensation Fonseca has been tipped for the top after stunning ninth seed Andrey Rublev in straight sets in the first round.

“What can I say about it? Just incredible,” four-time Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz said of Fonseca.

The 18-year-old Fonseca faces unseeded Italian Lorenzo Sonego for a place in the third round.

Australia’s main hope Alex de Minaur takes on American Tristan Boyer on Rod Laver.

In the women’s draw, eighth seed Emma Navarro had to dig deep to get past China’s Wang Xiyu 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 and will face former world number two Ons Jabeur from Tunisia in the third round.

Jabeur enjoyed a straight-sets win over Colombian Camila Osorio.

Jasmine Paolini and Elena Rybakina are also in second-round action.

Fourth seed Paolini faces Renata Zarazua of Mexico to round off the night on centre court.

Sixth seed Rybakina blew away 16-year-old Australian Emerson Jones 6-1, 6-1 in her opening match and faces American wildcard Iva Jovic.

Doping fears prevented former US Open champion Emma Raducanu from treating insect bites on the eve of the Australian Open, she said, with players increasingly wary about ingesting contaminated substances. The British player, who faces a tough first round match against Russian 26th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova, was speaking in the wake of high-profile doping cases involving Iga Swiatak and Jannik Sinner. “I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take on board, what we use,” said the 22-year-old, recalling an incident on Friday.

“I got really badly bitten by, I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess.

“They flared up and swelled up really a lot. Someone was giving me this antiseptic spray, natural, to try to ease the bites.

“I didn’t want to take it. I didn’t want to spray it. I was, like, I’m just going to tough it out because I don’t want to risk it.”

Five-time Grand Slam winner Swiatek’s reputation was rocked last year when it was revealed she tested positive for a banned heart medication.

The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) accepted that the violation was not intentional, and the Polish star escaped with a one-month sanction.

Her case followed defending Australian Open champion Sinner twice testing positive for traces of the steroid clostebol in March.

He was also exonerated by the ITIA, which accepted his explanation that the drug entered his system when his physio used a spray containing it to treat a cut.

The World Anti-Doping Agency appealed his case, which will be heard by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on April 16-17.

“It’s obviously a concern on our mind,” said Raducanu about fears of inadvertently ingesting a contaminated substance.

“We’re all in the same boat. I think it’s just how we manage as best as we can the controllables.

“If something out of our control happens, then it’s going to be a bit of a struggle to try and prove.”