A match of ups and downs but Iga Swiatek manages to overcome obstacles to prevail against Kalinskaya

Iga Swiatek has shown signs of her best on court, but these have not come in consistent periods. This was shown in her Australian Open third round match against Anna Kalinskaya, with three very one-sided eventually going in the favour of Swiatek, who won 6-1, 1-6, 6-1.

Swiatek's career Grand Slam hopes are still very much on, but she is definitely not the favourite to win the title on current form. Two very positive sets would be marred by a second set where she seemed to lose focus, with her serve falling off a cliff.

The match constantly shifted on momentum from set to set. It was Swiatek who came out all guns blazing with her looking like she would cruise towards a sixth fourth round appearance at Melbourne Park.

This would not be the case as Kalinskaya fought her way back into the match, overcoming missed chances from Swiatek as she levelled up for a very anticipated third set. It would follow the same distinctive pattern portrayed throughout the entire match, this time in the favour of Swiatek once more.

Swiatek won 66% of first serve points compared to a disappointing 48% for her opponent. It was a similar number of unforced errors each, with Swiatek tallying up 29 compared to Kalinskaya's 28, but she was able to rack up 24 winners, which would prove crucial in wrapping up games on the way to victory.

It would just take 24 minutes for Swiatek to wrap up the first set. She held to love before mustering up a break opportunity, which was clinically taken. It was comfortable on serve for a few games before Swiatek inflicted a final blow in the first set, breaking to sail into a 5-1 lead and took her second set point, with the Pole looking like she would be breezing into the fourth round.

It was anything but easy for Swiatek, who made hard work of it as Kalinskaya found a way back into the match. She held her serve before clinching her first break of the match. This was instantly replied back by Swiatek in emphatic fashion to get the set back on serve.

This would not last with the Russian getting that break advantage back enroute to a 3-1 lead. This was the first of four consecutive games as Kalinskaya levelled up this match, but she still had to pass some obstacles to this stage, surviving three break point chances from the six-time Grand Slam champion before taking her third set point. Swiatek's serve completely collapsed this set, with her first serve percentage at 44% while winning just 13% of points with it.

After two very routine sets in terms of scorelines, the same pattern would occur for Swiatek as she would sprint towards the finishing line. She went up a double break after clinching the first four games of the third and final set. The momentum had been firmly shifted once again back into her camp, and she was going to make the most of it.

A break and match point were featured in that order, but both were not taken with one of the players set to rue their miss chances. It would be Kalinskaya, who failed to take another two break points as Swiatek could let out a smile after finally getting the job done in a topsy turvey match.

With Naomi Osaka's withdrawal, the 24-year-old already knows who she will face: Aussie qualifier Maddison Inglis who is making her debut in the fourth round of a Grand Slam event.