FORT WORTH, Texas — Iga Swiatek fell in the semifinals of the WTA Finals, but nonetheless has been the best player on this year’s Hologic WTA Tour. And it’s not even close.
Her numbers have been dominant — a 37-match win streak earlier this year, 67-9 (.881), two major championships, eight titles. Every week, it seems, she’s joining some of the game’s greatest players in categories that underline her excellence.
- Swiatek’s 30-plus weeks in her first run at No.1 is the fourth-longest such streak ever, after Stefanie Graf, Martina Hingis and Serena Williams.
- In the past 40 years, only Martina Navratilova and Graf (each with 17) won more consecutive matches against players in the Top 10 than Swiatek’s 15. The top-ranked player’s streak ended Sunday in a loss against Aryna Sabalenka in Fort Worth.
- Swiatek is the first player to advance to the semifinals of the WTA Finals before turning 22 since Petra Kvitova in 2011.
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Swiatek is the first woman to win two majors in a single season — Roland Garros and the US Open — since Angelique Kerber took the Australian Open and US Open in 2016.
“I mean, her season is right up there with the best in this century,” Pam Shriver said before a Tennis Channel broadcast. “Iga’s played everybody they’ve put in front of her, which is all she can do.”
Shriver was impressed with Swiatek’s 37-match winning streak earlier this season, but came away from the US Open with even more admiration.
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“She had that aura about here when she was winning all those matches in a row,” Shriver said. “But I thought she was vulnerable going into the US Open. She didn’t like the balls, and she wasn’t afraid to say so. And she went on to win the tournament not playing her best.
47 – Iga Swiatek has won 47 hard courts matches in 2022: in 2000s, only Kim Clijsters (59 in 2003 and 51 in 2005), Agnieszka Radwanska (52 in 2013), Jelena Jankovic (50 in 2008) and Lindsay Davenport (49 in 2001) had more in a single year. What?!@WTA @WTA_insider @WTAFinals pic.twitter.com/7qYdJdxbMm
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) November 6, 2022
“That’s a signature of the great players.”
How great?
Here’s a look at our Top 10 list of the best seasons this century, in chronological order:
Venus Williams, 2000
Majors: Wimbledon and the US Open
Overall titles: 6
Win-loss: 41-4 (.911)
Note: Williams…