4 players to win an Olympic singles medal as the World No. 1 in WTA era ft. Iga Swiatek, Steffi Graf
Iga Swiatek joined a small group of tennis stars who have managed to win a singles medal at an Olympic Games while being the World No. 1 in the WTA Rankings. The Pole achieved the feat at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Winning a medal at the Olympic Games is amongst the most sought-after achievements for any tennis player, and the accolade becomes even more special for the athlete when it is attained while being at the top of the sport. Very few players have accomplished this feat in tennis history.
With that said, let's take a look at four players who have won an Olympic medal while reigning as the World No. 1 in the WTA Era:
#4 Iga Swiatek
World No. 1 Iga Swiatek etched her name into this list at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The Pole has made the World No. 1 her own over the last three years, with her three straight Roland Garros titles playing a significant role in her rise on the WTA Tour.
She entered the 2024 Paris Olympics as the firm favorite for the gold medal and defeated Irina Camelia-Begu (Romania), Diane Parry (France), Wang Xiyu (China), and Danielle Collins (USA) to reach the semifinals.
Iga Swiatek faced Zheng Qinwen of China in the women's singles semifinal and endured an upset 6-2, 7-5 loss. This meant that the 22-year-old had to play for the bronze medal and easily dispatched Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia to win her maiden Olympic medal.
#3 Victoria Azarenka
Victoria Azarenka was at the pinnacle of her tennis career in 2012 after winning her maiden Grand Slam title at the 2012 Australian Open and ascending to the summit of the WTA Ranking for the first time in her career. The Belarusian headed to the 2012 London Olympics as the top seed in the women's singles draw and reached the semifinals after beating Irina Camelia-Begu (Romania), Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (Spain), Nadia Petrova (Russia), and Angelique Kerber (Germany).
Azarenka just missed out on reaching the gold medal match after losing to Serena Williams (USA) in the semifinals. She took home the bronze medal after beating Maria Kirilenko (Russia). Azarenka did win a gold medal at London 2012, but that accolade came in the mixed doubles format alongside Max Mirnyi.
#2 Justine Henin
Justine Henin's triumph at the 2004 Athens Olympics will probably go down as one of the most unexpected results for tennis in Olympic history. While she was the reigning Australian Open champion and the top seed in the women's singles draw, the Belgian came to the Olympics after a serious immune system disorder that had kept her out of action for almost three months of the 2004 WTA Tour season.
However, the long hiatus did not seem to have any effect on the World No. 1 as she dropped just one set en route to her maiden gold medal at the Olympics. Henin defeated Barbora Strycova (Czech Republic), Maria Vento-Kabchi (Venezuela), Nicole Pratt (Australia), Mary Pierce (France), Anastasia Myskina (Russia), and Amelie Mauresmo (France) to win Belgium's only gold medal at Athens 2004.
#1 Steffi Graf
1988 was a record-breaking year for German legend Steffi Graf as she became the first and, so far, the only tennis player to complete a Golden Slam, i.e. winning all four Majors as well as the Olympic gold medal in the same year. Graf was the seeded No. 1 in the women's singles draw at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
The German beat Leila Meskhi (former USSR), Catherine Suire (France), Larisa Savchenko (former USSR), Zina Garrison (USA), and Gabriela Sabatini (Argentina) to win her first Olympic gold medal. She also became the first-ever player in the WTA era to be an Olympic gold medalist and the World No. 1 simultaneously.