Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 22, 2026 Poland's Iga Swiatek celebrates after winning her second round match against Czech Republic's Marie Bouzkova REUTERS/Tingshu Wang
MELBOURNE, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Iga Swiatek resumed her quest for a first Australian Open title and career Grand Slam with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over unseeded Marie Bouzkova to reach the third round on Thursday, as she showed no signs of the sluggishness that dogged her in the last round.
The 24-year-old arrived in Melbourne after two losses during Poland's triumphant United Cup run and had to fight past Chinese qualifier Yuan Yue in the last round, but normal service looked to have resumed against Bouzkova in John Cain Arena.
Swiatek eased through the first set, during which she raised the intensity early on and made several successful forays to the net, but the six-times Grand Slam champion found herself on the back foot in the second set as Bouzkova surged to a 3-1 lead.
The second seed got back on level terms after six games and then nailed a forehand winner at the net to edge ahead, going on to seal the win from there and setting up a third-round clash with 31st seed Anna Kalinskaya.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Melbourne; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus)
