Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf & Serena Williams find successor in Iga Swiatek after Pole's impressive achievement in 2024
Iga Swiatek wrapped up another successful year on the WTA Tour, winning five titles and leading her rivals in terms of titles won this year. The Pole led the tour for titles won for the third consecutive year and joined the likes of Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, and Serena Williams in achieving the feat.
Iga Swiatek's 2024 season began with a disappointing third-round exit at the Australian Open. However, she turned around her fortunes at the Qatar Open, where she was a two-time defending champion. Swiatek bettered Elena Rybakina in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament to win her first title of the year.
The Pole's second accolade of 2024 came at the WTA 1000 Indian Wells Open, where she defeated Maria Sakkari in the final. Swiatek turned up the heat on her rivals in the clay court swing, stitching together a 19-match winning streak. The streak included titles at the WTA 1000 events in Madrid and Rome, where she defeated Aryna Sabalenka in both finals and a three-peat at Roland Garros, bettering Jasmine Paolini.
A slump after the Paris Olympics saw Swiatek lose her World No. 1 ranking and eventually end the season at the World No. 2 spot. However, she sat at the top of the titles won list for the year with five, followed by Aryna Sabalenka and Diana Shnaider at four and Coco Gauff and Elena Rybakina at three each.
2024 was the third consecutive year Iga Swiatek won the most titles on the WTA Tour, making her the fifth woman in WTA history to achieve the feat. The Pole won six titles in 2023 (Qatar Open, Stuttgart Open, Roland Garros, Warsaw Open, China Open, and WTA Finals) and eight in 2022 (Qatar Open, Indian Wells Open, Miami Open, Stuttgart Open, Italian Open, Roland Garros, US Open, and San Diego Open).
Chris Evert was the first woman to end three or more consecutive seasons (1974, 1075, 1976, and 1977) with the most titles on the tour. She was followed by Martina Navratilova (1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, and 1986), Steffi Graf (1987, 1988, 1989, and 1990), and Serena Williams (2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015) in this regard.
Iga Swiatek to kick off 2025 season at United Cup
Iga Swiatek will start her 2025 season at the United Cup, where she will represent her nation for the third year in a row. Poland reached the tournament's semifinals in 2023 and was runners-up to Germany in 2024. The 2025 United Cup will be played in Perth and Syndey, Australia, from December 27 to January 5.
During her campaign at the recently concluded Billie Jean King Cup Finals, Iga Swiatek laid out her plans for next year and expressed excitement at working with her new coach, Wim Fisette, during the off-season. Swiatek parted ways with her long-time coach Tomasz Wiktorowski after the US Open and acquired Fisette's services in October.
"I'm going to start the new season with some new goals, and I'm already looking forward to it. We haven't had time with Wim to practice a lot. So it's going to be nice to try that," she said.
Iga Swiatek led the Polish contingent to the semifinals of the 2024 Billie Jean King Cup. Poland came up short against eventual champions Italy 2-1, with Swiatek losing the deciding doubles tie.