Iga Swiatek becomes new world number one in women’s tennis

Iga Swiatek (Si Robi, Wikimedia Commons)

With the recent retirement of Ash Barty, it meant there would be a new world number one in women’s tennis. This past week, we found out who that person would be. After her 6-2, 6-0 win over Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic in the second round of the Miami Open on Friday, Iga Swiatek of Poland became the official world number one in the WTA rankings on Monday.

Swiatek also made tennis history. According to the WTA, she becomes the first tennis player ever from Poland to be ranked first in the world either on the ATP Tour or WTA Tour.

A major champion, Swiatek won the 2020 French Open. There she defeated American Sofia Kenin, 6-4, 6-1. Earlier this month, Swiatek won the prestigious BNP Paribas Masters in Indian Wells, California, where she beat Maria Sakkari of Greece in the final, 6-4, 6-1. Also in the last calendar year, Swiatek double bageled Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic in the 2021 Italian Open final, and beat Anett Kontaveit of Estonia 6-2, 6-0 in the 2022 Qatar Open final.

One must realize that Swiatek is in the world number one position with a hot streak. She has now won 14 straight games, with her last win, a 6-3, 6-1 win over American Coco Gauff in the fourth round of the Miami Open on Monday. Her next match will come on Wednesday in a quarterfinal matchup against two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic. Kvitova, who is seeded 28th in Miami, won Wimbledon in 2011, and 2014.

Swiatek’s last loss came in the second round of the 2022 Dubai Tennis Championship on February 16. There she lost to 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6. Swiatek currently has 5776 points. Maria Sakkari of Greece is second with 5085 points.

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