Snapshot of day five of the Australian Open

By: Callum Godde Time published 2024-01-18 at 06:44 PM (GMT +11:00)

World No.1 Iga Swiatek dug deep to down Danielle Collins on day five of the Australian Open, exorcising the demons of her 2022 semi-final loss to the American.

Iga Swiatek from Poland blows kiss at the 2023 French Open
Iga Swiatek from Poland blows kiss at the 2023 French Open Picture: AAP Image

DAY FIVE AT A GLANCE AT THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN IN MELBOURNE:

PLAYER OF THE DAY: Iga Swiatek - the Pole half-joked she was mentally at the airport down 1-4 in the deciding set to 2022 Australian Open runner-up Danielle Collins before rallying to win 6-4 3-6 6-4.

STAT OF THE DAY: Swiatek's hard-earned win was her 18th straight as the four-time grand slam champion edges closer to a maiden Australian Open crown.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "This will be my last season." - Collins, runner-up to Ash Barty two years ago, reveals her professional career will come to an end in 2024. The 30-year-old American said she had other things she wanted to do outside tennis, including having children.

TOURNAMENT SUMMARY: Swiatek exorcised the demons of her 2022 Open semi-final loss to Collins to keep her quest for a maiden Melbourne Park title alive. German men's sixth seed Alexander Zverev survived an almighty scare of his own, beating Slovakian qualifier Lukas Klein in a fifth-set match tiebreaker. Max Purcell pushed Norway's No.11 seed Casper Ruud to five sets but could not join fellow Australian Alex de Minaur in the last 32.