Iga Swiatek Motivated to Complete Her Career Grand Slam at the 2026 Australian Open

Iga Swiatek's best run at the Australian Open was reaching the semi-finals in January.

Iga Swiatek Motivated to Complete Her Career Grand Slam at the 2026 Australian Open

Iga Swiatek (Image via X/iga archive)

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Iga Swiatek is seeking to become the first woman since Maria Sharapova to complete a career Grand Slam by winning the 2026 Australian Open. The former World No.1 won her maiden grass-court title in 2025 at the Wimbledon Championships, having won the French Open four times and the US Open once.

Swiatek had a quick holiday in Mauritius after labeling the 2025 season as the longest in her career. She’s already back on the court and has begun her pre-season training ahead of the 2026 season. She’s yet to take part in any exhibition tournament like her rivals, Aryna Sabalenka and Jessica Pegula, have.

The World No.2 is eager to win the Australian Open for the first time in her career in January. Her best run at the tournament came this season, when she reached the semi-finals. She faced eventual champion Madison Keys and was one point away from reaching the final before allowing Keys to come from a set down and beat her.

Nonetheless, Swiatek had not reached a final five months before the clash against Keys and was far from her best form. This year, she reached four finals, losing just one, and all came in the second half of the season. So, the Polish star is in a better position than she was in January, and she’s focused on peaking at the Australian Open.

Should she win the Melbourne Grand Slam, she will become the 11th woman to ever complete the career Grand Slam. In an interview with CLAY, Swiatek noted that winning the Australian Open is part of her dream next season. The 24-year-old added she’s more focused on her pre-season training:

I don’t set goals like that. Obviously, it’s something that I dream of and something that I want to happen one day, but I’m not going to come to Melbourne and think about it every day. I know that there’s seven matches to win and the Grand Slams are two weeks, a lot can happen. So I’m really going to just take it step by step. Just focusing on the pre-season well is the key, and then I’ll see. But for sure, it would be a dream come true.

The Australian Open will kick off on January 18. Keys is the defending champion, but Sabalenka has more chances of winning the title than any other female player. The World No.1 has won the first Grand Slam of the year on two occasions. Also, Elena Rybakina is expected to be a strong contender, having finished the 2025 season on a high.

Iga Swiatek admits that the women’s circuit has become more competitive than ever

The 2025 WTA season was one of the most entertaining years fans have ever witnessed. For the third time in just five years, four different women won all the major tournaments on tour. Madison Keys claimed the Australian Open, Coco Gauff then won the French Open, while Iga Swiatek lifted the Wimbledon Championships. Aryna Sabalenka wrapped up the year by winning the US Open.

Iga Swiatek
Iga Swiatek (Image via X/Jimmie48 Photography)

During the aforementioned interview, Swiatek was asked if the level in the WTA has become more difficult than it was a few years ago. The World No.2 admitted that the WTA has become more competitive, highlighting that any player on tour can actually win big tournaments in the circuit:

I think the level we’re all at got more equal. I think you could see that, especially during the WTA finals, basically, any of us could win this tournament, we really played a lot of tight matches. There are some players that obviously prefer some conditions or others who feel better in this or that part of the season…but I think overall we all are getting better in a really fast way.

Swiatek has won six Grand Slams on tour. She suffered some unusual losses in 2025, but still managed to finish the year ranked World No.2. Next season, she will be eager to do better than she did last year, particularly in clay tournaments.

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