VIDEO SHOWS: HIGHLIGHTS FROM IGA SWIATEK V MARIE BOUZKOVA, STAN WAWRINKA V ARTHUR GEA, AMANDA ANISIMOVA V KATERINA SINIAKOVA, TOMAS MACHAC V STEFANOS TSITSIPAS, MARIN CILIC V DENIS SHAPOVALOV, WANG XINYU V JELENA OSTAPENKO and ELISE MERTENS V MOYUKA UCHIJIMA AT THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN COMPLETE SHOTLIST TO FOLLOW SHOWS: MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA (JANUARY 22, 2026) (TENNIS AUSTRALIA - See restrictions) STORY: 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 (January 22), 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. American Amanda Anisimova made it to the third round after a game of two contrasting sets against Czech Republic's Katerina Siniakova. The fourth seed dominated the first set but had to fight her way through in the 68-minute second set to pick a 6-1 6-4 victory. Meanwhile, China's Xinyu Wang made it to the third round of the Australian Open for the first time after a 4-6 6-4 6-4 win over the 24th seed Jelena Ostapenko. Belgium's Elise Mertens also cruised to the next round after a comfortable 6-3 6-1 win over Japan's Moyuka Uchijima. In a thrilling men's contest, Stan Wawrinka lived to fight another day in his final Australian Open, the three-times Grand Slam winner battling to a marathon 4-6 6-3 3-6 7-5 7-6(10-3) victory over Frenchman Arthur Gea. Wawrinka, who won his first Grand Slam in Melbourne in 2014 before going on to capture the French Open in 2015 and the U.S. Open a year later, had announced before the tournament that he would retire at the end of the 2026 season. Fresh off his title win in Adelaide, Czech Republic's Tomas Machac defeated 31st seed Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4 3-6 7-6 (5) 7-6 (5) to set up a meeting with Italy's Lorenzo Musetti in the third round. In one the major upsets of the day, Croatian Marin Cilic, 37, defeated 21th seed Denis Shapovalov 6-4 6-3 6-2 to move into the third round. (Production: Suramya Kaushik) (The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)
