She plays with the weight of history behind her; triumph at Melbourne Park would make her the 11th woman in the game’s history to complete the Grand Slam: the elusive achievement of winning at least one title at each of the four Majors. Swiatek, as all pros in her position ought to do, coolly played it off. “I’m still young. I have plenty of time to do different things and achieve different goals in my career,” she said during her pre-tournament press conference. “I really don’t need to put that pressure on myself to do something in the next two weeks.” Since Don Budge achieved the feat over 90 years ago, only 18 singles players have managed the Grand Slam. 2026 sees the prospect of three more doing so, and while Jannik Sinner will have to wait for the French Open, both Swiatek and Carlos Alcaraz can break the barrier in Melbourne itself. In a sport obsessed with pitting landmarks against landmarks, this is the real marker of greatness. The magnitude of reaching it, and …