Iga Swiatek is through to the second round of the Australian Open after coming through a difficult opening test against Yue Yuan.
The Pole was trailing in the first set, but she fought back to avoid the upset and emerge victorious in straight sets, 7-6, 6-3.
Swiatek is bidding to complete the Career Grand Slam in Melbourne, where she has never made the final before.
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Her next opponent comes in the form of Marie Bouzkova, whom she leads 2-0 in the WTA head-to-head.
Despite winning her first match at the Australian Open, Swiatek admitted she was not up to scratch.
Iga Swiatek reacts to her opening win at the Australian Open
In her on-court interview, the six-time major champion said: “For sure, I was a bit rusty at the beginning, didn’t really start well.
“She used the opportunity, but I knew if I put the hard work in I will play better, so that’s what I tried to do from the middle of the first set and yeah, I’m happy that it worked.
“For sure, many ups and downs, but overall, I have some stuff to work on, so I’ll just focus on that.”
When asked what she meant by putting the hard work in, Swiatek responded: “It was mostly footwork because I started a bit, you know, tight, so I needed to get my legs moving and go after my shots. Overall, be more brave with my decisions.
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“For sure she started playing full and yeah, I just needed to react a bit quicker and not be pushed back, but really go for it.
“So I just tried to do this a couple of times, you know, it wasn’t perfect, but that’s, you know, why I’m happy because it’s not hard to win matches when everything is going well, so today it wasn’t, but I managed to win, so it was good.”
Iga Swiatek reveals how she came back in the first set
Yuan took a 5-3 lead in the opening set, and was on the verge of drawing first blood in the match, but Swiatek produced some remarkable winners to take it to a tiebreak.
The 24-year-old said she knew she needed to be more aggressive in order to claw her way back into the contest.
She explained: “I knew if I’m just gonna push, you know, it’s not gonna work since she was really playing fast, so I needed to take initiative from the beginning.
“I would say also my focus was better since like 5-3 or 4-3, and then in the tiebreak it kind of peaked. I mean, I just used my chances that I got it, and I’m happy about that.”
Swiatek made the semifinals of the Australian Open last year but was knocked out of the tournament by eventual champion Madison Keys.
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