No. 1 Swiatek enters on 28-match winning streak
PARIS » Here’s one measure of just how dominant Iga Swiatek has been as the French Open begins Sunday:
The 28-match winning streak accumulated by the new No. 1 in the WTA rankings has been surpassed by only three women since 2000 — Venus Williams (35 in 2000), Serena Williams (34 in 2013) and Justine Henin (32 in 2008), all former No. 1s, all owners of multiple Grand Slam titles. Pretty heady company.
“Well, I know that the pressure is going to come, for sure, and I know that on clay, maybe the media are going to call me the favorite,” said 2020 French Open champion Swiatek, whose first-round match against 121st-ranked Lesia Tsurenko is scheduled for Monday.
“But honestly, I don’t know what to expect, because it’s the first time I’m in a position like that and I’m world No. 1,” Swiatek said. “For sure, the thing I know is that I’m going have fun playing on clay . ... I just always have more motivation before Roland Garros, so I’m going to use that, for sure.”
The 20-year-old from Poland has won her past five tournaments and 42 of her past 43 sets.
“She’s definitely setting a high precedent right now,” 2019 U.S. Open champion Bianca
Andreescu said. “For me, at least, it’s very motivating.”
Everyone in tennis, it seems, is taking notice. “She’s fresh. She’s natural. She’s young,” 13-time French Open winner Rafael Nadal said. “The way that she’s playing this year looks unstoppable.”
Probably not exactly unstoppable, of course. So Swiatek knows this run won’t last forever.
If it does continue for seven more matches across just shy of two more weeks, though, the first Polish tennis player to be ranked No. 1 and to win a Grand Slam singles title will own a second.
“I’m aware that this streak is something that may be coming to an end soon, so I don’t want to be like, you know, heartbroken when it’s going to happen,” Swiatek said. “I think being aware of that is pretty healthy.”