Swiatek: Pressure on Sabalenka in Australian Open three-peat quest

As Aryna Sabalenka prepares to launch her quest for a third straight Australian Open title, Iga Swiatek knows how her rival is likely to be feeling.

The world number one is aiming to become only the sixth woman in the Open Era to go three in a row Down Under, after Margaret Court, Evonne Goolagong, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles and Martina Hingis.

Swiatek is one of only two active players - along with Novak Djokovic - to win three straight editions of the same major, achieving the feat at last year's French Open for her fourth such triumph overall.

With Sabalenka looking to follow suit in Melbourne, the Pole provided an insight into the experience.

"I thought you wanted to talk about my three-peat in the fourth round!" giggled Swiatek, who has suffered last-16 exits here in 2020, 2021 and 2023.

"Depends on the player, I guess. We handle pressure in a different way. For sure, you need to ask Aryna about that.

"In Roland-Garros for me, I don't know, it's always super special. I would say I felt the most pressure in 2023, because that was the first time I felt like I needed to defend my title. After 2020, I honestly thought this [winning] happened by mistake anyway.

"I was like: 'Oh, no-one will expect me to repeat that probably'. But in 2023, the pressure was high. I felt that on court and off the court. Last year, 2024, I felt good.

"I guess it depends how you play, as well. We get confident when we see our game. Aryna obviously has a great game to play here.

"Also, it's a two-week tournament. Even if you struggle at the beginning, you don't know what's going to happen later. You might get a perfect feeling anyway, or the opposite. I guess we'll see."

Hiding in plain sight#AO2025 @iga_swiatek pic.twitter.com/k7vGfmmJMl

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 10, 2025