Iga Swiatek was forced to take drastic action after a wardrobe malfunction at the Australian Open.
On Monday, the 2026 Australian Open continued with the likes of Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev all in action.
It was a poor day for the British hopefuls as Jacob Fearnley lost to Kamil Majchrzak, while Francesca Jones was forced to retire from her match against Linda Klimovicova.
World No.2 Swiatek began her quest for the Australian Open title by facing Chinese qualifier Yuan Yue.
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To the surprise of many, Swiatek struggled in the first set as she was broken by Yuan, who managed to force a tiebreak.
However, the Polish star took the set by winning 7-6 (7-5).
In the second set, it was one-way traffic as Swiatek sealed the victory by taking it 6-3.
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Earlier in the match, the 24-year-old was forced to take drastic action after being left uncomfortable by her outfit.
During the break between games, Swiatek was seen ripping her skirt, which was seemingly too tight and restricting her range of movement.
After tearing the left side of her skirt, Swiatek stood up and tested her ability to move before sitting back down.
Speaking after the match, Swiatek admitted that she was a little 'rusty'.
She said: "I was a bit rusty at the beginning, didn't really start well.
"But I knew if I put in the hard work, I will play better so that's what I tried to do. I'm happy that it worked, many ups and downs. There are things to work on."
Swiatek added: "I started a bit tense so I needed to get my legs moving and go after my shots. I just needed to react a bit quicker and not be pushed back and really go for it.
"It wasn’t perfect, but that’s why I am happy, because it’s not hard to win matches when everything is going well. Today it wasn’t and I managed to win so that’s good."
Looking ahead, Swiatek will take on Marie Bouzkova in the second round on Thursday.
Topics: Tennis, Australian Open
Marcus Chan