5 milestones achieved by Iga Swiatek following her victory at the Miami Open
Iga Swiatek's brilliant run of form continued as she beat Naomi Osaka 6-4, 6-0 to win the Miami Open and complete the 'Sunshine Double. The Pole enjoyed an exceptional fortnight in Florida, beating Viktorija Golubic, Madison Brengle, Coco Gauff, Petra Kvitova and Jessica Pegula before getting the better of Osaka.
The victory marks the 20-year-old's sixth career title and third straight WTA 1000 crown. Swiatek now has 17 successive wins since the start of the Qatar Open.
Given the Pole's blistering form, there is no doubt that she deserves to be World No. 1. Swiatek has produced sensational tennis over the past month and promises a lot more over the course of the season.
Let's take a look at some of the milestones the 20-year-old has accomplished with her recent performances.
#5 4th player to win 17 successive matches at WTA 1000 events
Iga Swiatek has been in spectacular form for over a month now. After exiting in the second round at the Dubai Tennis Championships, she competed at the Qatar Open and won it by thrashing the fancied Anett Kontaveit 6-2, 6-0 in the final.
The Pole headed straight to Indian Wells where she won three successive matches after going a set down. She improved as the tournament progressed and beat Maria Sakkari 6-4, 6-1 in the final. Swiatek then entered the Miami Open as the second seed and was at her dominant best. She didn't drop a set in the WTA 1000 event, smashing Naomi Osaka 6-4, 6-0 in the final.
The Pole has now recorded 17 victories in a row at WTA 1000 events, becoming only the fourth player to do so. The other three to have achieved the feat are Caroline Wozniacki, Victoria Azarenka and Serena Williams.
Iga Swiatek is the 4th player to win 16+ consecutive matches at WTA 1000 events.
The last player to do so was Serena Williams, who won 26 between 2013 Miami-Cincinnati)
Also:
28: Caroline Wozniacki (2010 Montreal-2011 Miami)
17: Victoria Azarenka (2012 Tokyo-2013 Madrid) https://t.co/aWbb0Bfqvu
#4 First player to win first 3 WTA 1000 events of the year
Iga Swiatek's dominant run of form has seen her win the Qatar Open, the Indian Wells Open and, most recently, the Miami Open. The Pole thus became the first woman to win the first three WTA 1000 events of the year.
Iga Swiatek becomes fourth woman, youngest among to win the Sunshine Double (both Indian Wells and Miami in same season) 🔥
She has also become first woman to win first 3 WTA 1000 events of the year 💪
#IgaSwiatek #Miami #IndianWells #Tennis #SunshineDouble https://t.co/RkfdN1YDni
Swiatek has an impeccable record in the finals of Grand Slams, WTA 1000 and WTA 500 events. She has won all six of her finals to date in the aforementioned categories and has done so in straight sets. In fact, the Pole has not dropped more than five games in any of those finals.
#3 4th woman and 11th overall to win the Sunshine Double
By winning the Indian Wells Open and the Miami Open back-to-back, Iga Swiatek became only the fourth woman to complete the Sunshine Double. The three other women to have accomplished the feat are Steffi Graf (1994 and 1996), Kim Clijsters (2005) and Victoria Azarenka (2016).
The Pole is the 11th player overall to achieve the Sunshine Double. Jim Courier, Michael Chang, Pete Sampras, Marcelo Rios, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic have achieved the feat on the ATP tour.
IGA WINS THE SUNSHINE DOUBLE!! ☀️☀️
Incoming World No.1 @iga_swiatek defeats Osaka 6-4, 6-0 to follow up her Indian Wells title with victory in Miami!
#MiamiOpen https://t.co/rpAyXZ68M4
#2 Youngest woman to complete the Sunshine Double
Aged 20 years and 307 days, Swiatek became the youngest woman to complete the Sunshine Double, surpassing Clijsters who was 23 when she achieved the feat in 2005.
She is also the second-youngest player after Michael Chang to achieve the milestone.
#1 First Polish player to become World No. 1
After Ashleigh Barty's shock retirement, Iga Swiatek was in pole position to become the new World No. 1. She secured the top spot after beating Viktorija Golubic in the second round of the Miami Open.
The Pole will be the new World No. 1 when the rankings are updated on Monday. Swiatek will be the 28th woman to achieve the top ranking and the first player from Poland. Agnieszka Radwanska was the highest-ranked Pole before this, reaching a ranking of No. 2 in 2012.
If Swiatek can maintain her excellent form, she has every chance of consolidating her position at the top for a long time to come.