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Iga Swiatek ripped her skirt on purpose in a bizarre turn of events during her first match at the Australian Open. She defeated Chinese qualifier Yuan Yue in straight sets, overcoming an early scare to claim a comprehensive 7-6 6-3 victory. Swiatek was broken in the first set by her unfancied opponent, who forced a tiebreak but was unable to see it through.

It was smoother sailing for Swiatek in the second set as she found her rhythm and punished Yuan for not taking her opportunity to pounce. Earlier in the match, she was clearly uncomfortable and wasn't moving as fluidly as she would have liked. In a desperate attempt to make things easier, she tried to adjust her skirt in an impromptu DIY session between points.

After sitting down in her chair, Swiatek was spotted trying to rip her skirt, which was seemingly too tight and restricting her range of movement.

She managed to create a tear on the left side of the garment before standing up and testing her ability to move. She appeared to be happy with the alteration and sat back down again, waiting for play to resume.

It seemed to have the desired effect as Swiatek gained the upper hand in the match before seeing out the second set to claim victory.

Afterwards, she lamented her own performance and insisted she had plenty to work on if she was going to stand a chance of winning the Australian Open.

"I was a bit rusty at the beginning, didn't really start well," said Swiatek. "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.

"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."

Anne Keothavong, who was on punditry duties for TNT Sports, was among those to raise questions about Swiatek's aggressive approach early in the match.

"I didn't think it was ever going to be an upset, but I was surprised with how Swiatek started and how she approached the match and wanted to hit the cover off every ball," said Keothavong.

"I feel with her, it doesn't have to be so big and brash at the start of every match. We see her at the start of matches, the speed is so much faster in the first three or four games than the rest of the match. She attempts to bulldoze her opponents and outhit them."