Iga Świątek(2)
2020: First French Open title, top 20 debut
Entering the rescheduled French Open in September, Świątek was ranked No. 54 in the world. Nonetheless, she won the singles event for her maiden WTA title. During the tournament, she defeated 2019 runner-up and world No. 19, Markéta Vondroušová, in the opening round.[21][33] Her biggest upset was a victory in the fourth round over top seed and world No. 2, Simona Halep, who was on a 17-match win streak and was also the heavy favourite to win the title.[34][35] She only lost three games against Halep after winning just one game against her in the same round of the French Open the previous year.[34] Świątek defeated world No. 6, Sofia Kenin, in the final to become the first Polish[a] player to win a Grand Slam singles title and the lowest-ranked French Open champion in the history of the WTA rankings. She also became the youngest singles champion at the tournament since Rafael Nadal in 2005 and the youngest women's singles winner since Monica Seles in 1992. She won the title without dropping a set or more than five games to any opponent, and the 28 games she lost in total were tied for the second-fewest among French Open singles champions in the Open Era behind only the 20 games Steffi Graf lost in 1988. With the title, Świątek rose to No. 17 in the world. She also played the doubles event, partnering with Nicole Melichar for the first time. The pair reached the semi-finals, and also did not drop a set until their last match.[36][37][38][39]
2021: WTA 1000 title, top 10 debut
At the Australian Open, Świątek was seeded 15th and recorded wins over Arantxa Rus, Camila Giorgi and Fiona Ferro. She reached the fourth round where she lost to Simona Halep, in three sets.[40] At Adelaide, she won her first WTA Tour title without dropping a set in the whole tournament. She defeated Belinda Bencic in the final, in straight sets.[41] As a result, she entered the top 15 for the first time in her career, in March 2021.[42]
Seeded 15th, Świątek won her first career WTA 1000-title at the Italian Open, defeating former champion Karolína Plíšková in just 46 minutes without the loss of a single game. She advanced to the final after defeating two-time champion and world No. 5, Elina Svitolina, and the second best-ranked teenager Coco Gauff on the same day, as well as saving match points in her third-round match against Barbora Krejčíková.[43] Świątek became the third player to win a title after saving match point en route in 2021, alongside Naomi Osaka at the Australian Open and Ashleigh Barty in Miami. She also became the fourth teenager to win a WTA 1000 event.[44][45] This successful run to her third career title moved her into the top 10 in the singles rankings on 17 May 2021, as world No. 9.[46]
At the French Open, Świątek was seeded at No. 8. She opened her title defense winning against Kaja Juvan in the first round, and then defeated Rebecca Peterson, Anett Kontaveit and Marta Kostyuk. She won 22 straight sets at the French Open but then lost in the quarterfinals to Maria Sakkari. In doubles, seeded 14th with Bethanie Mattek-Sands as a pair, playing just their third event together, they reached the final[47] where they were defeated by Barbora Krejčíková and Kateřina Siniaková in straight sets. As a result, Świątek reached the top 50 at a career-high ranking of No. 42 in doubles for the first time in her career.[citation needed]
She started her grass-court season at the Eastbourne International where she was seeded at No. 4. After defeating Heather Watson, she lost to Daria Kasatkina in the second round. As the seventh seed at Wimbledon, Świątek defeated Hsieh Su-wei, Vera Zvonareva, and Irina-Camelia Begu, all in straight sets. In the fourth round, she lost to Ons Jabeur, in three sets.[48] With her win over Anett Kontaveit in the third round of the US Open, she became the only player to have reached the second week of all four Grand Slam championships in the 2021 season.[49] She qualified for the WTA Finals for the first time in her career.[50]
2022: World No. 1, two major titles, 37-match winning streak
Świątek started her season by reaching the semi-finals at the Adelaide International.[51] She then reached another semi-finals at the Australian Open.[52] Following a second-round match loss against Jeļena Ostapenko, Świątek won the next six tournaments she entered — Qatar Ladies Open,[53] Indian Wells Open,[54] Miami Open,[55] Stuttgart Open,[56] Italian Open[57] and, for her second major title, French Open[58] — before losing to Alizé Cornet at Wimbledon in the third round.[59] Świątek reached the world No. 1 singles ranking, and became the fourth as well as the youngest woman (11th player overall) to complete the Sunshine Double in the process.[60] She also accumulated a 37-match win streak, the longest in the 21st century.[59] Świątek had a lacklustre performance throughout the summer. She lost to Caroline Garcia in the quarterfinals in Warsaw,[61] Beatriz Haddad Maia in the third round in Toronto and Madison Keys in the third round in Cincinnati. However, she returned on form at the US Open, winning her third major by defeating Ons Jabeur in the final.[62] She became the first woman to win both the French Open and US Open in the same season since Serena Williams in 2013.[63]
2023: French Open and WTA finals champion, year-end No. 1
Świątek's 2023 campaign was statistically less dominant than her 2022 season, but she still managed to win six titles in the year. She started 2023 as only the fourth woman in WTA history to be ranked world No. 1 for 40 or more consecutive weeks in their first stint as the top-ranked player.[69] In her first tournament of the year representing Poland at the United Cup, she partnered with her compatriots including Hubert Hurkacz and reached the semi-finals.[70] At the Australian Open, she lost in the fourth round in straight sets against Elena Rybakina,[71] who would upset Świątek two more times later in the year, respectively in the semi-finals at the Indian Wells Open and in the quarterfinals at the Italian Open.[72][73]
She did not win any tournament until the Qatar Ladies Open, where she did not drop a set throughout the tournament and only lost five games.[74] The clay season saw her successfully defend her Stuttgart Open title,[75] as well as winning her fourth Grand Slam at the French Open by defeating Karolína Muchová in the final.[76][77] After improvement on the grass court with a quarterfinal performance at Wimbledon,[78] which ended her 14-match win streak,[79] she won her home tournament at the Poland Open.[80][81][82]
At the US Open, Świątek lost in round four against Jelena Ostapenko, which ended her reign at world No. 1.[83] Her 75-week reign at No. 1 is the third-longest streak in the Open Era among players in their first stint as the top player, behind only Steffi Graf and Martina Hingis.[84] Nevertheless, she went on to win the China Open.[85] At the WTA Finals, she won the title without dropping a set, becoming the first player to do so since Serena Williams in 2012. She also dropped just 20 games throughout the entire tournament, the fewest since the reintroduction of the round-robin format in 2003 and beat Serena Williams's record of 32 overall games dropped. She also beat the record for games lost in a final, which previously held by Martina Navratilova in 1983 and Kim Clijsters in 2003 (two each). Świątek lost only one game in the final.[86][87] By winning the title, she reclaimed the top ranking and became the year-end No. 1 for the second season in a row.[88]
2024: Indian Wells title, 100th WTA 1000 win
Świątek entered the United Cup in an international team competition representing Team Poland. She reached the final winning all of her singles matches and received the MVP award of the event.[89] In the third round of the Australian Open, she was upset by Linda Nosková in three sets and as a result of this loss her 18 match winning streak came to an end which started in September 2023.[90] Despite this earlier loss she kept her world No. 1 ranking.
In March, Świątek won the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells for the second time, defeating Maria Sakkari in the final. This was her second title of the season and 19th overall.[98] In Miami, she recorded her 100th WTA 1000 career match win defeating Camila Giorgi in one hour, in straight sets.[99]
In April, Świątek entered the Stuttgart Open as a two-time defending champion and reached the semifinal where she lost to Elena Rybakina in three sets, which ended her 10-match winning streak in the tournament.[100] In the same month, she entered her 100th week as the reigning world No. 1 surpassing Lindsay Davenport and moving to the ninth place in the all-time table.
