NEWS
Iga has achieved in individual sport what no other Polish athlete in the entire history of Poland has achieved. And it’s not the end. Well done
Iga Swiatek moved up one spot to the top of the WTA rankings on Monday, becoming the first tennis player from Poland to be No. 1 in the sport.
The 20-year-old Swiatek — pronounced shvee-ON-tek — takes over from Ash Barty, who announced last month she would be retiring at the age of 25 after more than two years at No. 1.
Swiatek won the 2020 French Open and is currently on a 17-match winning streak that includes the title at the hard-court Miami Open, where she defeated Naomi Osaka 6-4, 6-0 in the final on Saturday. That followed Swiatek’s triumph at Indian Wells, California, last month, making her only the fourth woman to complete what’s known as the “Sunshine Double,” and another trophy in Doha, Qatar, in February, so she is the first woman to win the first three WTA 1000 events in a year.
“I felt like everything clicked this season,” Swiatek said in a video interview with The Associated Press.
She is the 28th woman to lead the rankings.
Osaka is a former No. 1 whose run to her first tour final in more than a year allowed her to go all the way from No. 77 to No. 35 on Monday.
Miami Open men’s champion Carlos Alcaraz, an 18-year-old Spaniard, jumped five spots to No. 11 in the ATP rankings, his highest showing so far.