When Ashleigh Barty of Ipswich, Australia retired from professional tennis on March 23, it shocked the tennis community. At the time she was ranked number one in the world, and came off a dominant performance at the Australian Open where she beat Danielle Collins of the United States 6-3, 7-6 in the final.
When Barty retired, Iga Swiatek of Warsaw, Poland became world number one. Since being number one, Swiatek has taken over the mantle and simply been a dominant force.
2022 WTA Titles
The WTA events Swiatek has won this year are the Qatar Open in Doha, Indian Wells, Miami Open, Stuttgart Open, Italian Open and French Open. In fact the world number one has won every final she has been a participant in. Swiatek defeated Anett Kontaveit of Estonia 6-2, 6-0 in the final of Qatar, 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 Stuttgart, Ons Jabeur of Tunisia 6-2, 6-2 in the final of Rome, and then Coco Gauff of the United States 6-1, 6-3 in the final of the French Open.
Overall Record to date
Swiatek has played 63 matches in 2021, and has a record of 56 wins and seven losses. The seven players to beat Swiatek this year are Barty in the semifinal of Adelaide (6-2, 6-4), American Danielle Collins in the semifinal of the Australian Open (6-4, 6-1), Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko in the second round of Dubai (4-6, 6-1, 7-6), France’s Alize Cornet in the third round of Wimbledon (6-4, 6-2), Caroline Garcia of France in the quarterfinals of the Poland Open in Warsaw (6-1, 1-6, 6-4), Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil in the third round of the Canadian Open in Toronto (6-4, 3-6, 7-5) and American Madison Keys in the third round of Cincinnati (6-3, 6-4).
US Open
So far in the final major of the year, Swiatek has beaten three Americans en route to the final. They are 2017 U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens in the second round (6-3, 6-2), Lauren Davis in third round (6-3, 6-4), and Jessica Pegula in the quarterfinals (6-3, 7-6). She also beat Jasmine Paolini of Italy in the first round (6-3, 6-0), Jule Niemeier of Germany in the fourth round (2-6, 6-4, 6-0), and three-time grand slam semifinalist Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus (3-6, 6-1, 6-4) in the finals.
US Open Final
Swiatek will face 2022 Wimbledon finalist Ons Jabeur of Tunisia in the final on Saturday. Head-to-head they have won two matches each. As mentioned, Swiatek beat Jabeur 6-2, 6-2 in the 2022 Rome Final. Swiatek also beat Jabeur in thew second round of Washington in 2019 (4-6, 6-4, 6-4). Jabeur’s wins over Swiatek came in the fourth round of Wimbledon in 2021 (5-7, 6-1, 6-1) and in the second round of Cincinnati in 2021 (6-3, 6-3).
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