Iga ÅšwiÄ…tek seals world No. 1 spot, becoming first Pole to top tennis rankings
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Loading... - Christina Edward
- 28 Mar 2022
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Iga ÅšwiÄ…tek will become the new world number one women’s tennis player after her victory over Viktorija Golubic at the Miami Open last night. The 20-year-old is the first ever Polish singles player, male or female, to hold top spot.
After the current top-ranked player, Australia’s Ashleigh Barty, dramatically retired this week at the age of 25, the number one spot was up for grabs. ÅšwiÄ…tek – who has been on an impressive run of form this year and was second in the rankings – was the clear frontrunner.
If she won in her opening match at Miami, it would guarantee that, when the next update of the rankings takes place on 4 April, she would be in top spot. ÅšwiÄ…tek then cruised to a 6-2, 6-0 over Golubic of Switzerland.
“I am really satisfied and proud of myself for reaching the No. 1 spot,” said ÅšwiÄ…tek after the game. “I feel like my tennis is going the right way and my goal is to stay at No. 1 and continue what I am doing.”
Earlier this week, Barty had tipped ÅšwiÄ…tek as a worthy successor, saying that “there is no better person” to take her mantle. “She’s an incredible person, a great tennis player. The way that she’s brought this fresh, fearless energy onto the court has been incredible.”
ÅšwiÄ…tek, who won the Wimbledon junior singles championship in 2018, has long been tipped for stardom. But success at senior level came even earlier than most expected, when she won the 2020 French Open at the age of 19, becoming Poland’s first ever Grand Slam singles champion.
She has steadily climbed the rankings since then, and this week, following back-to-back WTA 1000 titles in Qatar and Indian Wells, reached a career-high ranking of No. 2.
Barty’s retirement did not automatically grant ÅšwiÄ…tek the first-place position. But the Australian then confirmed that she had requested her name be removed from the rankings list and her points wiped from the system at the start of the next ranking cycle.
That opened the way for either ÅšwiÄ…tek or Spain’s Paula Badosa to take the top spot. However, it would have taken a very unlikely set of results in Miami for Badosa to do so: ÅšwiÄ…tek getting knocked out in her first match and the Spaniard winning the tournament. Read More…
