Iga Swiatek named WTA Player of the Year

Iga Swiatek (Si Robi, Wikimedia Commons)

According to Chris Oddo of tennisnow.com, Poland’s Iga Swiatek has been named the 2022 WTA Player of the Year. Swiatek, who received the honour on Monday, became the first Polish player ever to win the award.

This past calendar year, Swiatek won eight WTA titles, including two major titles. She beat Coco Gauff of the United States 6-1, 6-3 in the final of the 2022 French Open, and then Ons Jabeur of Tunisia 6-2, 7-5 in the final of the 2022 United States Open. Swiatek also beat Anett Kontaveit 6-2, 6-0 in the final of the Qatar Open, Maria Sakkari of Greece 6-4, 6-1 in the final of Indian Wells, Naomi Osaka of Japan 6-4, 6-0 in the final of Miami, Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus 6-2, 6-2 in the final of the Stuttgart Open, Jabeur 6-2, 6-2 in the final of the Italian Open, and Donna Vekic of Croatia, 6-3, 3-6, 6-0 in the final of the San Diego Open.

Swiatek is the first women’s tennis player to win two majors in the same calendar year since Angelique Kerber of Germany won the Australian Open and the United States Open in 2016. In the 2016 Australian Open women’s tennis final, Kerber defeated Serena Williams of the United States 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. In the 2016 United States Open women’s tennis final, Kerber defeated Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.

In 2022, Swiatek had a record of 67 wins and nine losses. The 67 wins included a 37 match winning streak from February 22 to June 30. In that time period, Swiatek won six of her eight titles in 2022.

Swiatek is also currently first in the world. She has 11085 points, a total of 6030 more points than Jabeur, who is in second place with 5055 points.

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