Iga Swiatek Makes Cool Tennis History By Advancing to Australian Open Third Round

Iga Swiatek is advancing to the third round of the Australian Open after easily beating Rebecca Sramkova, 6-0, 6-2 on Thursday. With this win, Swiatek puts herself above the rest of the tennis field, both men's and women's, this decade.

Since 2020, Swiatek is the only player to reach at least every third round of the major tournaments. She has avoided early upsets in her last 20 appearances now (including the Australian Open). She missed the 2020 Wimbledon tournament.

This is quite the impressive feat for the five-time major champion, who only began playing in major tournaments in 2019.

The 23-year-old has a long way to go before breaking the Open Era record for most consecutive round three major appearances as Martina Navratilova holds that record with 35. It would take her to at least the 2028 U.S. Open to tie Navratilova's record, then until the 2029 Australian Open to break it.

Swiatek was eliminated in the third round twice last year, at the Australian Open and at Wimbledon. The former No. 1 player be looking to not repeat her fate at last year's Australian Open when she faces Emma Raducanu on Saturday.