(Video) Marie Bouzkova Almost Hits Iga Swiatek With a Racket in an Extraordinary Australian Open Moment

Iga Swiatek to face Anna Kalinskaya in the third round of the Australian Open.

(Video) Marie Bouzkova Almost Hits Iga Swiatek With a Racket in an Extraordinary Australian Open Moment

Marie Bouzkova almost hit Iga Swiatek (via X/The Tennis Letter/TNT Sports/CNT Sport)

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Iga Swiatek narrowly avoided being hit by Marie Bouzkova‘s racket after a weird sequence on the court during their second-round match at the Australian Open. The Polish star advanced in straight sets and delivered a much better performance than her display in the first round, but the racket situation was the highlight of the tie.

The first set of the encounter began with Swiatek firing all cylinders. She broke the Czech Republic star early in the set, but midway through the first set, the Polish star and Bouzkova were locked in a lengthy rally that ended with both players at the net.

Swiatek had hit a lob which forced Bouzkova to sprint away from her baseline. As she tried to attempt a passing shot back into Swiatek’s side of the court, the ball ballooned up and just cleared the net with heavy backspin. The Czech star then tried to make contact with the ball with her racket, but the bounce took it back over the net to the opposition side of the court.

At that time, Swiatek had also come close to the net and was attempting her usual tactics of rushing to the net with her racket up in the air before pulling away from it. As she dodged the ball, Bouzkova’s racket almost hit her on the head, which would have resulted in something completely different.

However, Bouzkova reached the ball, hit it as an easy winner, but in doing so she touched the net, which led the umpire to give Swiatek the point. But Bouzkova was not pleased with the decision as she told the umpire that Swiatek hindered her from taking the right shot. But upon review, the umpire’s decision was right.

Swiatek went on to win the first set, and in the second set, she failed to continue with the momentum. Bouzkova looked eager to prove a point against the former World No.1 as she broke her to lead 3-1 on the court. But Swiatek did well to regroup after that and increased the tempo of her game.

The World No. 2 won the match 6-2, 6-3 in just 1 hour and 19 minutes. Nonetheless, the performance was far better than her first-round display against Chinese qualifier Yuan Yue. She will be aiming to continue with the form in the third round of the tournament.

Iga Swiatek says she’s not fully focused on winning the Australian Open

Before Iga Swiatek arrived in Melbourne for the Australian Open, there were debates on whether she would finally complete her career Grand Slam. The Polish No.1 has won the French Open four times, the US Open and Wimbledon once. Should she win the Melbourne Grand Slam, she will become the 11th women’s player in history to achieve that.

Iga Swiatek
Iga Swiatek (Image via X/United Cup)

However, she has never gone past the semi-finals of the Australian Open. Swiatek’s best run came in 2022 and 2025, reaching the last four before crashing out. After earning her place in the third round, she pointed out that she’s not putting much pressure on herself to win the title as she’s humble to take the tournament one game at a time:

This is not going to sound like I’m humble, but after winning so much, it’s hard to appreciate just one match. I’m usually kind of happy after I finish the whole tournament if I win. If not, then I’m a bit less happy but I got to learn to appreciate every single match and not take anything for granted.

Swiatek will take on Anna Kalinskaya in the third round of the Australian Open. Kalinskaya defeated Julia Grabher 6-3, 6-3 to seal her place in the round of 32. This is expected to be Swiatek’s first major test in Melbourne and a chance to refine her game.

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