Top 5 WTA Players of 2022, No. 1: Iga Swiatek

HIGHLIGHTS: Iga wins her second French Open

Most Memorable Moment: When asked in a sit-down television interview in Polish what other career path Swiatek might have chosen, she replied, “Something in music. . . I wouldn’t choose any other sport because tennis is perfect in every way.”

Missed Opportunity: Swiatek didn't miss many chances this year, but her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals at the WTA Finals prevented her from ending the year with an additional exclamation point to add to her string.

2023 Projection: Like the young woman says, “the sky is the limit.”

You know you’ve really arrived as a superstar when some silly misstep—a stray comment about a rival, a minor violation of the game’s protocols (serving underhand, imagine that!), shielding an energy drink from prying eyes—triggers a social media firestorm.

Iga Swiatek finally joined that elite company during her final with Donna Vekic at the San Diego Open, where her occasional panic reaction when trapped at the net (she reflexively flings her arms in the air, as if trying to fly away) triggered a bogus Internet controversy. To be clear, the gesture breaks no rule, isn’t intentional, and Vekic professed not even to notice it.

The tempest in a teacup would not be worth mentioning were it not for the striking way it illustrates—literally—Swiatek’s all-in competitiveness. She sometimes gets lost in her own, blistering focus. It’s an unusual trait in someone with such a sunny disposition, and it may be even more responsible than her skillful hands or nimble feet for where she is today: the runaway WTA No. 1. The winner of two Grand Slam titles and eight tournaments overall (twice as many as anyone else), Swiatek is the TENNIS.com (and surely everyone else’s) WTA Player of the Year.

As Mats Wilander, the seven-time major champion and Eurosport analyst, said in an interview: “Iga Swiatek is driven, and when you’re that driven, sometimes you don’t know what you do physically in terms of arms up in the air or whatever. . .For me it just shows that her motivation is not to be No. 1 in the world, her motivation is not to win Grand Slams, those are effects and rewards and bonuses that come along the way. Her motivation is to be a better player, to get the most out of herself every time she steps on the court.”

Many in tennis saw this day coming, but few predicted it would arrive so quickly. Tennis legend and television analyst Chris Evert was an exception, boldly declaring in May that, “I think even if Ashleigh Barty hadn't retired, Iga would have reached the No. 1 spot.”

Swiatek was just a fresh-faced 17-year old from Poland in the spring of 2019 when, in just her second Grand Slam event, she reached the fourth round of the French Open. She ran the table at Roland Garros the following year. She reached at least the fourth round at every major in 2021 after which, aware of the different challenges at the elite level, she made the critical, risky decision to change coaches.

Swiatek hired compatriot Tomasz Wiktorowski, who had shepherded Agnieszka Radwanska to No. 2 in the world. He quickly helped shape Swiatek into the more aggressive, forward-moving player she is today. He also helped her overcome the shock when top-ranked Barty, newly crowned Australian Open champion of 2022, decided to retire and had her name removed from the rankings.

Ranked No. 9 at the time, Swiatek had looked up to Barty as an exemplary player. She had not imagined that she would be in a position to replace the Aussie at the apex so quickly. Confused for a variety of reasons, Swiatek admitted to “crying for a long time” when Barty retired. But she brushed away those tears with dispatch and rose to the top following her win at the Miami Open (in doing so, she became just the fourth woman to sweep the Indian Wells and Miami WTA 1000 events, aka the “Sunshine Double”).

I think even if Ashleigh Barty hadn't retired, Iga would have reached the No. 1 spot. —Chris Evert

In reaching the Miami Open final, Swiatek's winning streak that began in Doha in the third week in February hit 16 matches, and inspired Evert to say: “I always have thought that to put together seven matches in a Grand Slam was really hard. [But] to put together 16 matches in a row with this field, with this depth in the women's game, and not having a real dip, not having a let-down, is almost unheard of.”

Yet that run was neither the beginning nor the end of something. Not even close. Swiatek defeated struggling former No. 1 Naomi Osaka in the Miami final and went on to record 20 more consecutive wins before her 37-match win streak—the joint-longest, with Martina Hingis, on the WTA tour since 1990—was ended at six titles by Alizé Cornet in the third round of Wimbledon.

By that point, it was clear that the coaching change was an inspired stroke. What happened next? Swiatek, a natural on red clay, claimed her second Roland Garros title just after turning 21. Many then wondered if she could successfully adapt her game to other surfaces. The wins at Indian Wells and Miami were crafted on a strategy that was already becoming less reliant on spin and counterpunching, more dependent on flatter ball striking and first-strike opportunism, including more forays to the net. Swiatek rode those skills to her crowning achievement in 2022, the US Open title.

“At the beginning of the season, I realized that maybe I can have some good results on WTA [hard court] events,” Swiatek, an Australian Open semifinalist, said shortly after she triumphed in Arthur Ashe Stadium. “But I wasn't sure if I was on the level yet to win actually a Grand Slam, especially at the US Open where the surface is so fast.

“[Winning here] is something that I wasn't expecting for sure. I'm proud, also surprised a little bit, just happy that I was able to do that. It's also like a confirmation for me that the sky is the limit.”

Wilander compared Swiatek’s suite of skills to that of the ATP No. 1, Novak Djokovic: “No other woman player is as complete [as Swiatek] when constructing points and moving forward.”

Evert shares that opinion but, as a player once revered for her own grit, the analyst believes it was “mental toughness” that carried Swiatek to the top. Both legends probably are right, and that spells trouble for Swiatek’s rivals on the WTA Tour.

The sky is the limit, and Swiatek is learning to fly.