Iga Swiatek ends the year with another win for Poland at United Cup

World No.1 Iga Swiatek showed no signs of rust in her first match of the 2023 season, defeating Yulia Putintseva 6-1, 6-3 at the United Cup. The victory Saturday gave No.2 seed Poland a 1-0 lead over Kazakhstan, but Timofey Skatov leveled the tie hours later with a 7-6(7), 6-2 win over Daniel Michalski.

With Polish great Agnieszka Radwanska looking on from the captain's box, Swiatek needed just three games before finding the rhythm and range that made her the runaway 2022 Hologic WTA Tour Player of the Year. Putintseva earned an early breakpoint chance in Swiatek's first game, but she coolly erased it with pinpoint accuracy.

"I'm pretty happy with my performance," Swiatek said. "First matches of the season are always rusty. I was happy that in the important moments I was really composed."

Under pressure again while serving at 1-1, 0-30, Swiatek found another gear to reel off 12 consecutive points to build a 4-1 lead. With six unforced errors in the first three games, Swiatek would make just one for the rest of the set, pocketing the set after 27 minutes.

Swiatek underlined her reputation as the tour's preeminent front-runner in the second set. After keeping Putintseva at bay in the early games, Swiatek broke to 3-2 and held her lead to win after 64 minutes. She finished the match with 22 groundstroke winners -- 17 on the forehand alone -- to just five for Putintseva.

The victory extended Swiatek's head-to-head record against Putintseva to 2-0.

Skatov leveled the tie with a grueling win against Michalski. The first set was critical, with long, grinding rallies that led to the match lasting 2 hours and 11 minutes.

“It was a really tough match, but actually my captain’s not happy because he said I played too long,” Skatov said in reference to Kazakhstan playing captain Alexander Bublik, who laughed in the team zone. “Today’s new year and we have to celebrate a bit! But OK, I tried to play as fast as possible.”

World No.142 Skatov saved all five break points he faced against Michalski to earn his first win at the United Cup. The 21-year-old had lost his first No.2 men’s singles match of the week in three sets against Switzerland’s Marc-Andrea Huesler.

The tie will continue Sunday evening when Bublik faces Polish star Hubert Hurkacz in the No.1 men’s singles match. Hurkacz leads the pair’s ATP Head2Head series 3-1.

Poland’s Magda Linette will then play crowd favorite Zhibek Kulambayeva in the No.2 women’s singles match before a possible decider in the mixed doubles inside Pat Rafter Arena.

The United Cup is a new mixed-teams event featuring 18 countries across Brisbane, Perth and Sydney. Played over two days, ties will be comprised of two ATP and two WTA singles matches and one mixed-doubles match.

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Iga Swiatek and Team Poland begin United Cup on New Year's Eve

 

Little reason to believe Iga Swiatek will slow down in 2023

Leave it up to Iga Swiatek to change the trajectory.

In this case, we’re not talking about her on-court results. During the United Cup press conference Wednesday in Brisbane, Australia, Swiatek (in good fun) wanted to move on from the team camaraderie line of questioning.

She was ready to change it up, which of course, led to questions on her 2022 season, where she finished as the top-ranked player by a landslide. Swiatek, who finished with more than twice as many rankings points as No.2 Ons Jabeur, was quick to admit her season went far better than she could have imagined -- but was also ready to move on.

“I'm going to try to kind of cut off everything that happened last year and just focus on the future, because I feel like I can take a lot of experience from these tournaments last year,” she said, “but I don't want to really like hold on to that too much, because I want to go forward and kind of focus on my next goals.

“For sure all these press conferences are going to kind of remind me of everything, but my goal is to just focus on the future and try to improve as a tennis player.”

Nonetheless, Swiatek’s 2021 numbers were dominant and worth re-examining. There was a 37-match win streak, a 67-9 (.881) record, two major championships and eight titles overall. Every week, it seemed, she joined some of the game’s greatest players in categories that underlined her excellence.

Her 36 weeks in her first run at No.1 is the fourth longest such streak, after Stefanie Graf, Martina Hingis and Serena Williams.

In the past 40 years, only Martina Navratilova and Graf (each with 17) won more consecutive matches against players in the Top 10 than Swiatek’s 15.

Swiatek is the first woman to win two majors in a single season -- Roland Garros and the US Open -- since Angelique Kerber took the Australian Open and US Open in 2016.

“I mean, her season is right up there with the best in this century,” said Tennis Channel’s Pam Shriver. “Iga’s played everybody they’ve put in front of her.”

Swiatek won 47 hard-courts matches in 2022. In the 2000s, only Kim Clijsters (59 in 2003 and 51 in 2005), Agnieszka Radwanska (52 in 2013), Jelena Jankovic (50 in 2008) and Lindsay Davenport (49 in 2001) had more in a single year. Swiatek finished the 2022 season with 11,085 ranking points -- more than double No.2 Ons Jabeur’s total. That’s the most since Serena Williams in 2013.

And then there’s the not-so-minor category of prize money. Swiatek, still only 21 years old, finished the year with a WTA Tour-leading $9.88 million in prize money. On the ATP, only late surges by Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz allowed them to catch her -- barely. Alcaraz ($10.1 million) received a generous distribution from the ATP bonus pool and Djokovic (9.9 million) won all of his matches at the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin -- taking home $2.2 million for winning the final alone.

Chris Evert, the 18-time major champion, was impressed with Swiatek’s winnings, the fifth-highest total in history.

“Love it,” she said. “I think it says a lot about the power of women’s tennis. It says a lot about the excellence of Iga that she was able to maintain that top level of tennis over the period of a year.”

Two members of the Original 9, who famously signed symbolic $1 contracts in 1970 in advance of the inaugural Virginia Slims of Houston tournament, said they were thrilled.

“I think it is fantastic that Iga finished the year making nearly $10 million,” Nancy Richey wrote in an email. “As an Original 9 besides just wanting to have a place to play, we also were hoping to increase the prize money we were playing for so the women could make a good living out of playing the sport we loved.

“I think that has happened and it is very gratifying to see how the women’s game has truly “Come A Long Way Baby!”

Wrote Julie Heldman, another Original 9 member, “Iga Swiatek is a great tennis player, who has earned nearly $10 million this year, which was only possible due to the dedication of the women tennis pros who fought hard for the success of the early women’s pro tour.”

For the record, Serena and Venus Williams head the all-time WTA earnings list, with nearly $95 million and $42 million, respectively. Naomi Osaka and Serena are 1-2 in Forbes magazine’s ranking of 2022’s highest-paid female athletes, which includes endorsements, at $58 million and $45 million.

Now it’s a clean slate, and Swiatek will approach the new season with a different feel. Not only is the Ashleigh Barty, who was the World No.1 retired, but Swiatek understands her results will be vetted much more closely from the outset of the season.

”[Ash] really set the bar pretty high, so I need to like show it to people but also show it to myself that I'm in the right place,” Swiatek said.

Swiatek and Team Poland kick off their United Cup competition on Dec. 31 in Brisbane, when the team takes on Kazakhstan.

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Roger Federer on The Daily Show talks life after tennis

 

Such a fantastic interview. I'm gonna be laughing about the Wimbledon security guard lady for days. :D

Iga Swiatek first ever Polish Year-end World Number 1

 

PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The WTA announced Tuesday that Iga Swiatek and Katerina Siniakova secured the 2022 WTA year-end No.1 singles and doubles rankings.

This is the first time in her career Swiatek finished the season in the top spot, becoming the 15th player overall. The week of Nov. 7 marks her 32nd week as the WTA World No.1, a position she reached on April 4, 2022. Only Serena Williams (57 weeks), Martina Hingis (80 weeks) and Stefanie Graf (186 weeks) held the top ranking for longer streaks after making their No.1 debut.

“Iga and Katerina have enjoyed memorable seasons, and I am delighted to see them earn the WTA Year-End No.1 Rankings,” said Steve Simon, WTA Chairman and CEO. “The Hologic WTA Tour this year has been more competitive than ever, featuring more than 50 tournaments across six continents, and Iga and Katerina deserve huge credit and recognition as they continue to redefine excellence in our sport.”

Swiatek won eight tournaments in 2022, including winning six events in a row over a 37-match winning streak. Among those eight titles were two Grand Slams, at Roland Garros and the US Open. She also won WTA 1000 tournaments at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open (Doha), BNP Paribas Open (Indian Wells), Miami Open presented by Itaú and Internazionali BNL d'Italia (Rome), and WTA 500 events at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (Stuttgart) and the San Diego Open.

Overall, Swiatek won 67 matches this season and amassed the second-most year-end ranking points with 11,085 since the WTA Rankings were introduced. Serena Williams is the only player who had more, when she earned 13,260 in 2013.

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Iga Swiatek reflects on her incredible season after losing out to Sabalenka in WTA Finals semis

FORT WORTH, Texas -- World No.1 Iga Swiatek's remarkable 2022 season is over. The top seed at the WTA Finals bowed out to Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals, 6-2, 2-6, 6-1, taking just her ninth loss in an season that spanned over 11 months.

"I'm not gonna lie to you, I've been waiting for that moment," Swiatek said, reflecting on the end of her season. "Because last week, basically it was pretty hard to see the finish line but still be fully motivated and ready for every match. On one hand, I'm sad that I lost, but on the other hand, I have one more day off. That's something on the bright side.

"This season has been so intense and I'm so proud of myself that I could play so well till the end of it. I'm happy that it's done."

The numbers surrounding the 21-year-old's 2022 campaign will fill an extraordinary chapter. She captured a tour-leading eight titles -- the most since Serena Williams' 11 in 2013 -- and posted a century-best 37-match win streak that left her unbeaten for 135 days, more than a third of the season. Her loss to Sabalenka snapped a 15-match win streak against Top 10 opposition. In the last 40 years, only Martina Navratilova (20) and Stefanie Graf (17) had more.

Swiatek will finish the year with 11,085 ranking points, the most since Serena Williams' 13,615 in 2013. In fact, since the WTA introduced ranking points, Swiatek's season-ending total is second to only Serena's 13,260 in 2013.

The Polish star still can't believe what how this season unfolded.

"It's just crazy that it happens," Swiatek said. "It's that kind of thing that is gonna stay with you for the rest of your career. And it's something to be proud of. Even though I lost today, I'm going to try to enjoy everything."

That Swiatek's stats keep running up against Serena's is a testament to the heights she reached this year. She posted 22 6-0 sets, the most since Serena's 25 in 2013 season. Her domination was evident in her 48 straight-set wins this year, the most, again, since Serena. She finishes the year with a 68-9 record, the most wins in a single season since, you guessed it, Serena.

"I want to spend eight days not thinking about anything and not doing anything," Swiatek said. "That's the first time I'm gonna have a vacation like that because usually I went to places where I could do sightseeing, and I still had an active vacation.

"Slowly I'm going to kind of come back to work. And then I'm sure that we're gonna start some easy practice sessions. So, yeah, a lot of time. And I'm happy about it."

Swiatek's 47 hard-court wins are the fifth-highest tally since 2000 and the most since 2013. Only Lindsay Davenport, Kim Clijsters, Agnieszka Radwansk and Jelena Jankovic had more in this century. Swiatek conceded only 13 games in her run to her first semifinal at the WTA Finals, a number bested -- in the modern round-robin era -- by only Justine Henin's 11 in 2007.

Her streak through the season saw her win two more major titles, at Roland Garros and the US Open, taking her total to three. In the spring she became the youngest player to complete the Sunshine Double and win Indian Well and Miami back-to-back.

Swiatek won 40 of her first 45 matches as a World No.1. Since 2000, it is a mark matched only by Henin and bested by Serena, who won 42 of her first matches as a World No.1.

It's a heady set of statistics for Swiatek, but for now, it's a race to rest and recuperate before she gets back to padding her stats once again.

"I'm just gonna really relax because I actually needed to learn how to do that," Swiatek said. "Last year was the first time that I was able to kind of cut off everything and recover well. I'm gonna try to do it again this year, because it's not that easy when you're constantly playing and your brain is used to competing.

"I want to get the adrenaline low and just chill out. maybe try to use the success that I had during the preseason. But also, it's gonna be pretty important for me to be focused on practicing and usually preseason is that kind of period where I'm dead and tired. So I'm not planning anything spectacular."

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Maybe the season didn't end quite the way we all wanted, the way Iga herself wanted I'm sure. But I honestly can't be sad because, what an extraordinary year it's been!. 

Iga accomplished in 12 months what many players work their entire career for (many never even accomplishing any of them). None of us could have even imagined the heights she would reach.

 

Becoming world #1 the first Polish player man or woman in the history of tennis ever to do so. Have a 37 match win streak (the best this century!). Win 8 titles, 2 of them Grand Slams. Play a full season without injury and have a 67-9 match win/loss record the most of anyone from both tours. 

Win 22 bagel sets. The list goes on and on.  

These are history making stats that no one will ever forget and they're the sort of stats that are associated with legends of the sport. And to think Iga is only 21!.

When you put it all together like that it's no wonder that perhaps Iga felt tired mentally and had nothing more to give in the semi finals. 

Maybe the body was willing but the mind had enough. 

Despite that though she still managed to improve in the final tournament of the season. This time last year in Guadalajara she only won 1 match. 

This year she won all 3 and was top of her round robin group. Even after everything she still had enough energy to finish strong. And you can't ask for more than that from any world class athlete. 

She proved time and time again this year why she is the best in the world and why she deserved that #1 ranking beside her name. 

She made the entire country of Poland feel an abundance of national pride all year long (something we don't always get to feel certainly not to such an extent).  

I hope she enjoys a more than well earned vacation now.  Thank you for the rollercoaster of happiness Iga looking forward to more fantastic emotions in 2023!. 

Jazda!.

Iga Swiatek undefeated in WTA Finals group stages faces Sabalenka in semis

 

FORT WORTH, Texas -- The semifinals are set at the WTA Finals, where No.1 Iga Swiatek will face No.7 Aryna Sabalenka and No.5 Maria Sakkari takes on No.6 Caroline Garcia.

How Swiatek advanced: Won the Tracy Austin Group, going 3-0 without the loss of a aset (d. No.4 Gauff, No.6 Garcia, No.8 Kasatkina)

How Sabalenka advanced: Finished second in the Nancy Richey Group, going 2-1 and losing three sets (d. No.2 Ons Jabeur, No.3 Jessica Pegula; l. No.5 Sakkari).

Head-to-head: Swiatek leads Sabalenka 4-1 and has won all four of their prior meetings this season

Fast facts: Swiatek is the first player to advance to the semifinals at the WTA Finals before turning 22 years old since Petra Kvitova in 2011 ... Swiatek won 40 of her 1st 45 matches as World No.1, bested only by Serena Williams winning 42 of her first 45 ... Swiatek has now won 15 consecutive matches vs. Top 10 opposition, tied for the longest single-season stream in the 2000s.

The World No.1 has picked up right where she left off when she finished the regular season by winning 14 of her past 15 matches, winning the US Open and the San Diego Open to take her tour-leading title court to eight. As she has been throughout her season, Swiatek is the one to beat.

While the rest of the tour was grinding it out at the Guadalajara Open Akron, Swiatek was resting and training in Florida. The results have been evident. Swiatek lost just 13 games during an undefeated run through the Tracy Austin Group, defeating Caroline Garcia, Daria Kasatkina and Coco Gauff.

There will be no secrets when Swiatek faces Sabalenka in the semifinals. It will be their fifth meeting of the season, with Swiatek winning all four this year. It will also be their second meeting at the WTA Finals. Sabalenka bested Swiatek last year in Guadalajara in three tough sets.

Despite the head-to-head, Swiatek is thoroughly aware of the threat Sabalenka presents. Their last meeting came in the US Open semifinals, where Swiatek came from a break down in the third set to win 3-6, 6-1, 6-4.

Sabalenka advanced to her first knockout stage at the WTA Finals with a little help from her friends. The No.7 seed went 2-1 in the Nancy Richey Group, with wins over No.2 Ons Jabeur and No.3 Jessica Pegula. But she needed Maria Sakkari to take a set off Jabeur in the last group match to book her advancement, and much to her relief, Sakkari won in straight sets to eliminate the Tunisian.

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So that's 22 bagel sets for the year. 

And 67 or 68 wins over all (I've honestly lost count). Just incredible stuff from Iga Swiatek this season.

And to think one year ago at this same tournament Iga only won one match. She lost to the 2 people she'll next be facing in the semis and finals (Sabalenka and possibly Sakkari). 

What a difference a year makes. 

Iga Swiatek avenges Garcia loss clinches WTA Finals semis in Fort Worth

 

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Up a break to open the second set, Iga Swiatek suddenly found herself in a love-40 hole. Her response? She won five straight points -- replete with the requisite fist pumps -- to go up 2-0.

That in a nutshell was how Thursday’s round-robin match went against Caroline Garcia.

The final score was 6-3, 6-2. Swiatek improved to 2-0 at this year’s finals and advanced to the knockout stage as the group winner. Kasatkina and Garcia will play for the No.2 spot on Saturday.

How did Swiatek handle the pressure from the always-aggressive Garcia?

“Don’t cry?” she said jokingly in her on-court interview. “Because, yeah, she was putting a lot of pressure and putting a lot of speed on her balls. I was ready for that.”

More than ready. In the queasy moments with break points in play, Swiatek was masterful. She saved five of the six Garcia managed to force -- and converted four of five against Garcia’s serve.

Back on July 29, Garcia defeated Swiatek 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Poland Open. And while the World No.1 was feeling the unsubtle pressure of playing in her home country, it was a season-altering victory for Garcia.

Swiatek had won 20 matches against the rest of the singles field here at the WTA Finals -- the only loss was to Garcia, who was a mere handful of points better. They came into Thursday’s confrontation with similar records going back to that match: Swiatek was 17-4 (81 percent) and Garcia 16-5 (76 percent).

Based on that recent history, this momentum-fueled matchup promised to be one of the best among the round-robin matches. It didn’t turn out that way.

“The thing is, you have to take some time away from her,” Garcia said in her post-match press conference. “Try to be aggressive, to push her out of her comfort zone. But most of the time, she does it better than you. She really strong, really solid, doesn’t give you a lot of unforced errors.

“As soon as she gets a little bit more space or more of an angle, she makes you feel you’re slower, playing bad, whatever.”

After splitting two matches in both Toronto and Cincinnati, Swiatek is starting to look like the player who won 37 straight matches earlier this year. She won all seven matches at the US Open -- her third major title and the first that wasn’t on clay. After losing a long three-set final in Ostrava to Barbora Krejcikova, Swiatek won the San Diego Open and came into Fort Worth with 14 wins in her past 15 matches.

Thursday’s win was Swiatek’s 14th win of the year against a Top 10 opponent. Through two matches here, she has dropped 10 games and has been broken once.

After her first round-robin victory, Swiatek talked about how the No.1 ranking has, by necessity, brought more maturity to her approach.

“For sure, I am trying to focus more,” Swiatek said. “It’s my goal in this tournament, because in San Diego I felt like I needed to lose on set to get to a different level of focus – maybe because I was tired. But here, I feel like I can just give it all in.

“It’s the last tournament of the season and I have nothing to lose. I don’t have to worry about what I’m going to do next. For sure, I’m committed 100 percent physically and mentally as well.”

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Iga Swiatek begins WTA Finals campaign with a win in Fort Worth

FORT WORTH, Texas -- If the dinosaurs had been blessed with Iga Swiatek’s adaptability and survival skills they might not have become extinct 65 million years ago.She grew up in Poland playing on clay and when she broke through with the 2020 title at Roland Garros, some wondered if she was a “clay-court specialist.” 

This year, she became only the fourth woman to win the Sunshine Double, winning all 12 of her matches in the hard-court venues at Indian Wells and Miami.

After calling the Wilson Regular Duty balls of the US Open Series “horrible” in Cincinnati -- the men play with heavier Extra Duty balls -- Swiatek went on to win the US Open.

While grass is by far her least favorite surface -- even in the midst of the greatest year of her life, Swiatek said this grass-court season left her more confused than motivated -- she was the Wimbledon junior champion at the age of 17.

We bring this up because the ongoing WTA Finals in Fort Worth present yet another challenge to Swiatek’s current eminence. The indoor hard courts are exceptionally slow and the ball bounces low. If you don’t really hit the ball, Maria Sakkari said, the ball does nothing. Aryna Sabalenka actually likened it to playing on (the dreaded) grass.

Fears of an allergic reaction Tuesday were unfounded, however. The No.1-seeded Swiatek handled No.8 Daria Kasatkina 6-2, 6-3 in her first round-robin match from the Tracy Austin Group. It was another lesson in the power of natural selection and Swiatek’s ability to master the variables that professional tennis offers up.

What was Swiatek happiest with in her opening match?

“Well, for sure the start,” she said in her on-court interview. “Because I felt like I can really play aggressively but, on the other hand, with these balls here you have to be really careful. So I wanted to balance it, and I think I did that pretty well at the beginning.

“And that gave me confidence for the rest of the match. I’m happy that we got used to the conditions pretty quickly.”

Swiatek -- still only 21 years old -- won the San Diego Open three weeks ago, playing with Dunlop balls, but these are again those Regular Duty balls of the US Open.


“Right now,” Swiatek said before the tournament, “I need to adjust to the ball. I have to just put more energy in that and in controlling the ball.”

Swiatek, with her western grip, hits a heavy ball to begin with. But practicing before the match, she seemed to be emphasizing particularly aggressive strikes. In the match, she hammered 23 winners, to just five for Kasatkina, and a multitude of heavy, top-spinning balls that Kasatkina scrambled to retrieve. Even the sound -- whoomph! -- was telling and, on several occasions drew a sharp gasp from the crowd at Dickies Arena.

Swiatek rolled out to a 3-0 lead in both sets and was never seriously challenged. In five matches, Kasatkina has yet to win more than three games in a single set. On Tuesday, Swiatek's ability to control the baseline sent Kasatkina scurrying around the court.

This was the fifth career win against Kasatkina, who is ranked a career-high No.8 -- all of them coming in 2022. Swiatek’s burgeoning numbers this season have separated her from the field. This was her tour-leading 13th victory over a Top 10 player, against a single loss. Likewise, her record of 20-1 this year against the rest of the Fort Worth field is dramatically better than the only other two players with a winning mark -- Caroline Garcia (4-2) and Ons Jabeur (7-3).

Moreover, Swiatek is the only Grand Slam singles champion in the draw, a first in the 52-year history of the event.

She’s won eight titles this year; next in line are the four players with three each. Swiatek won four of the year’s eight WTA 1000s -- the other four went to Ons Jabeur, Jessica Pegula, Simona Halep and Caroline Garcia. And then there’s Swiatek’s tenure at No.1, which is taking on a historic context.

“Last year I feel I struggled with problem solving,” Swiatek said in her post-match press conference. “This year I feel I have much more control of my emotions in sometimes difficult moments. So it’s easier to think logically about what you want to change or what is the best option to win more points.

“Tennis-wise, I have more skills and more variety I would say I’m getting [to be a] more grown-up player on the court.”

In the wake of Ashleigh Barty’s retirement, Swiatek has been there for 30 consecutive weeks now, the fourth-longest run in history for a first-time No.1, after Stefanie Graf (186), Martina Hingis (80) and Serena Williams (57).

And now, here is a chance to again prove her adaptability and conquer another new frontier. Although the sample size is quite small -- this is only her fourth indoor hard-court tournament at the WTA level -- Swiatek has never won such an event. Interestingly, Kasatkina has won two.

In a season of firsts, it would be another incremental step. Afterward, Swiatek said that seeing herself winning is never part of her pre-match routine.

“Usually I’m using visualization when I feel like my technique is a little bit off,” she said. “Honestly, I forgot to do that today. But usually like technical stuff because I’m not the kind of person who will visualize myself with trophies.”

And, in this season’s remarkable spirit of adaptability, that’s just what happens anyway.

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Halloween prank on Iga Swiatek & Caroline Garcia

 

Gauff, Garcia, Kasatkina prepare for Swiatek challenge at WTA Finals

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Can anyone stop Iga Swiatek at the WTA Finals? Coco Gauff, Caroline Garcia and Daria Kasatkina will take their shots after being drawn along with the World No.1 into the Tracy Austin Group at the WTA Finals.

After sealing her regular season by winning her eighth title of the year at San Diego, Swiatek comes into her second WTA Finals as the top seed. She will open the group's round-robin play against No.8 Kasatkina on Tuesday. Looming in her group is No.6 seed Garcia, who is the only player in the Fort Worth field has a win over Swiatek this season.

"I feel like the conditions were totally different [from San Diego], and right now I need to adjust to the ball basically again because we play with US Open Regular Duty," Swiatek told reporters at WTA Finals Media Day. "I have to just put more energy in that and in controlling the ball.

"But the preparation went well. We did everything we planned. I was able to recover. I felt really sore after these two tournaments. I feel more fresh right now, and that's all that matters because I'm able to give my all during matches."

Garcia on the Swiatek challenge:

"WTA Finals is a challenge, but she's a challenge just by herself. She lost very few matches. I won against her in Poland, but it was very different condition, clay court. She was playing in Poland, and it was probably her first time.

"It's a whole different match for sure. It's group stage as well. I will try to play my game, be aggressive. That's my way of playing, and that's probably the best chance I have to beat her."

Swiatek on Jessica Pegula's winning finish to the season in Guadalajara:

"I always felt like she's really consistent, and I'm pretty happy that she won Guadalajara because I felt like she deserved to have this big title even earlier.

"She is that kind of person that I feel like you can kind of trust her. She's on Players Council and she's always been helpful. It feels like she knows what she's doing. She's really intelligent on court as well.

"It's great that she's fulfilling her goals. She for sure deserves that title, and I think even more."

Swiatek on how she maintains her drive and ambition:

"I feel like I also accepted that I don't have to feel always 100% motivated. Sometimes, especially after Grand Slams when you are playing these smaller tournaments, you feel the energy level is a little bit lower. But on the other hand, when I'm going on court, it's still the same, and I always want to win. I'm basing my motivation on that."

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WTA Finals round robin groups are set in Fort Worth

The stage is set for the 2022 WTA Finals, as the groups for the round-robin portion of the prestigious year-ending championships were drawn on Friday night in Fort Worth.

Each singles player or doubles team will face off against all of the other participants in their respective group during the first six days of the tournament. At the end of the round-robin matches, the top two players or teams from each group will advance to the single-elimination semifinals.

World No.1 Iga Swiatek, the winner of eight titles this season including Roland Garros and the US Open, leads the Tracy Austin Group. Austin is a former World No.1 in singles -- the four group names are inspired by four legendary American champions.

Swiatek will have a rematch of the Roland Garros final against No.4 seed Coco Gauff during round-robin play. The two youngest players in the field, 21-year-old Swiatek and 18-year-old Gauff, have both landed in the Tracy Austin Group.

No.6 seed Caroline Garcia, winner of three titles this year, and No.8 seed Daria Kasatkina, a two-time titlist in 2022, round out the Tracy Austin Group.

No.2 seed Ons Jabeur, who reached her first Grand Slam finals at Wimbledon and the US Open this year, tops the Nancy Richey Group. No.3 seed Jessica Pegula, who won her first WTA 1000 title in Guadalajara last week, was also drawn into the Nancy Richey Group.

No.5 seed Maria Sakkari and No.7 seed Aryna Sabalenka, both of whom are making their second straight appearances in the WTA Finals singles field, complete the Nancy Richey Group.

In the doubles field, No.1-seeded Czechs Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova lead the Rosie Casals Group. Krejcikova and Siniakova won three of the four Grand Slam titles this year, and they completed the Career Golden Slam with their US Open title.

No.3 seeds Gauff and Pegula are in the same group as Krejcikova and Siniakova. Gauff and Pegula are the two players this year who have qualified in both singles and doubles.

The group stage of singles and doubles play begins on Monday, October 31 at the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth. The semifinals will be played on Sunday, November 6, and the singles and doubles finals will be on Monday, November 7.

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Road to the WTA Finals: Iga Swiatek

Season at a glance

Iga Swiatek engineered one of the best seasons of the century to cement herself as the top-ranked player on the Hologic WTA Tour.

While her 135-day unbeaten run and eight-title haul surpassed even her expectations, Swiatek showed signs of leveling-up as early as January, when she broke through at the Australian Open to make her first hard-court Slam semifinal.

Swiatek, 21, parlayed that newfound confidence to back-to-back WTA 1000 titles at the Qatar Total Open and Indian Wells, but she says the real shift came at the Miami Open, where she would end up winning her third straight 1000-level championship.

"When Ash [Barty] retired, I had two days of not knowing what my place is," Swiatek told WTA Insider. "I'm pretty happy that during this tournament I found out that I can play the same kind of tennis even if I became No.1.

"I spent some time proving that I can be at that place, so it was a whole process, but I would say it started in Miami. There was that shift."

Season highlights:

First Polish player to be ranked No.1 on the WTA or ATP

Won 37 consecutive matches over the span of 135 days, the longest win streak on the Hologic WTA Tour since 1997.

First player to win two Slam titles in a single season since 2016

8-1 record in finals

21 6-0 sets, the most since Serena's century-best mark of 25 in 2013

First player to finish the regular season with more than 10,000 ranking points since Serena Williams in 2015

After winning in Miami, where she defeated Naomi Osaka in the final, Swiatek became the youngest player to complete the grueling Sunshine Double.

As Swiatek took the No.1 ranking into her most dominant surface on clay, the pack was already taking notice.

"Help us all," Jessica Pegula said jokingly as the clay season began.

Sure enough, Swiatek lost only two sets on clay and added three more titles to her tally, including a second Roland Garros.

Swiatek's 37-match win streak, the longest of the century, finally ended at Wimbledon, but she wasn't done yet.

She learned to adjust to the conditions on the U.S. hard courts to win two of her last three tournaments of the season, including the US Open, her third major title. Swiatek capped off her year with a trophy at the San Diego Open.

Swiatek qualified for the WTA Finals for a second straight season. Last year, she made her tournament debut.

"It's a totally different experience, so having qualified before will help a lot," Swiatek said. "I'm curious how physically I will be able to play this tournament after such a long season.

"So it will be a test for me. Last year, mentally and physically I felt I didn't have much power. This year we did some things differently to have the energy at the end, so I'm curious to see if it actually worked.

"It's just going to be a challenge to play against the top players day-by-day, not have time to have these easier first two rounds. So I'm curious if I'll be able to play my top tennis from A to Z."

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Iga Swiatek wins 11th Career title, 8th of the season in San Diego

 

Iga Swiatek took home her eighth title of the year, fending off a spirited effort by qualifier Donna Vekic on Sunday to prevail 6-3, 3-6, 6-0 to win the San Diego Open.

The top seed Swiatek needed 1 hour and 47 minutes to earn the 11th singles title of her career with her tour-leading 64th match-win of the year, the most since Serena Williams won 78 matches in 2013 (including Billie Jean King Cup play).

Swiatek improved to 24-1 win-loss record on U.S. soil in 2022. She adds the San Diego trophy to triumphs in the States at the Sunshine Double of Indian Wells and Miami, as well as her third career Grand Slam title at the US Open.

Vekic’s resurgent run came to an end, but it was her second match of the day.

Vekic’s semifinal was interrupted by rain Saturday night with the Croatian trailing Danielle Collins 4-2 in the third set, but she fought back, and Sunday closed out the match in a third-set tiebreak.

After winning her two qualifying matches, Vekic had defeated four straight Top 25 players in this week's main draw. But despite pushing Swiatek into a third set for the first time in their three meetings, overcoming the top seed was a step too far for Vekic.

Swiatek won 82 percent of her second-service points in the final, while Vekic only had a 39 percent success rate behind her own second serves. That helped Swiatek convert four of her six break points on the day.Swiatek was the steadier player in the first set, drawing errors from Vekic to earn the only break at 4-2 en route to the one-set lead.

But Vekic’s aggressive play paid off in the second set, where she forced errors from the World No.1 with world-class backhands to earn the only break point of the set at 3-2. There, Vekic won a wild rally with a passing winner to break for 4-2, and she went on to take the set.

In the end, Swiatek came out firing in the third set, wrapping up lengthy rallies with pinpoint winners to improve to 3-0 against Vekic.

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Still thinking about that bagel set (her 21st of the season), mesmerizing how she can go to another gear in a final. 

If you want to win a match with Iga Swiatek in a final you have to play to your absolute limits the way Krejcikova did in Ostrava otherwise you get steam rolled. 

It's astounding. 

And honestly something I've only seen from the legends of he sport. 

Iga is doing it at just 21 with plenty of time to get even better.  Scary.

Iga Swiatek reaches her 9th final of the year in San Diego

 

Displaying the resourcefulness and resilience you might expect from the World No.1, Iga Swiatek came back to defeat Jessica Pegula 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 to advance to Sunday’s final at the San Diego Open.

Swiatek will meet the winner of Saturday's second semifinal between Danielle Collins and qualifier Donna Vekic.

Swiatek won her 63rd match of the 2022 season, equaling the 2016 total of Angelique Kerber for the most Hologic WTA Tour victories in the past six years. Swiatek, who defeated Pegula for the fourth time this year, will become the fourth woman to finish the year with more than 10,000 points in the WTA Tour rankings, after Victoria Azarenka, Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams.

Swiatek, 21, is now 23-1 in the United States this season.

There were three breaks of serve in the first set and a continuous shifting of momentum. After back-to-back breaks, Pegula faced a third but saved two break points and leveled the match at 4-all when Swiatek missed a forehand wide.

In the next game, with Swiatek facing a break point, she double-faulted off the top of the net and Pegula went on to serve out the first set, prevailing on another Swiatek forehand that sailed wide.

After play was suspended for more than an hour because of rain, Swiatek came out firing and took a 3-0 lead, an advantage she never relinquished. She converted her second set point with a ringing forehand that clipped the line -- and the match headed into the decisive third set.

Serving at 2-all in the third, Swiatek saved all three break points against her -- and then broke Pegula to take a 4-2 lead. A tired-looking forehand into the net from Pegula sent Swiatek into her ninth final of the year.

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Make that 63 wins for the year (now tied with Angie Kerber from 2016). 9th final, 41st hard court win. And I believe her 10th comeback from a set down this season. 

Also the first time she has reached back to back finals  in back to back weeks.

Simply Iga Swiatek living up and continually cementing her World #1 status. Astounding. 

This is the kind of year you usually see from greats like Roger Federer, Rafa, or Serena. To have Iga accomplishing this at just 21 is extraordinary. 

And the fact that she's the first player from Poland to write herself into the tennis history books just makes it all the sweeter.  

My Polish pride has been soaring all year and it feels wonderful. 

These are moments we never expected, but ones that so many Polish sports and tennis fans alike have been waiting and hoping all their lives to see. 

Iga Swiatek reaches 11th semi-final & 62nd win of the year in San Diego

 

World No.1 Iga Swiatek advanced to the semifinals of the San Diego Open after a dominant 6-0, 6-3 win over No.8 Coco Gauff in the quarterfinals. The victory extended Swiatek's undefeated record against Gauff to 4-0 and improved her record against Top 10 opposition to 11-1 this season.

Into her third consecutive semifinal, Swiatek will face World No.6 Jessica Pegula in Saturday's semifinal.

Three thoughts on Swiatek's clinical victory:

Swiatek's offense proves the difference: Swiatek and Gauff are able to go toe-to-toe when it comes to court speed, court coverage, and defense. But the biggest difference in their games at the moment is offense, the area where Swiatek has improved the most in 2022.

In their third meeting of the season and second on hard court, Swiatek's heavy forehand methodically broke down Gauff's shakier forehand. Gauff hit 11 unforced errors on that side in the opening set. Swiatek hit none. When Gauff tried to pressure Swiatek by coming into the net, the Pole passed her comfortably and regularly. As she has done to all manner of opponents in 2022, Swiatek took away any and all zones of comfort for Gauff, who found herself reacting as opposed to controlling any portion of the match.

Swiatek quickly pocketed the first eight games of the match before Gauff held serve to 2-1 in the second set, but ever the front-runner, Swiatek never looked back. In an efficient 65-minute effort, Swiatek finished the match with 13 winners to 9 unforced errors while breaking Gauff five times. Gauff hit 17 winners to 26 unforced errors and could not convert on the three break-point chances she earned.

It's a difficult match-up for Gauff at this point in her career. She has not won more than four games in any of the six sets they played this year.

Not even jet lag can put the No.1 off her game: Swiatek's decision to play San Diego right after a physically and emotionally tough week in Ostrava was a surprising one to many. Never one to flinch at a test, Swiatek wanted to see how she would react to the quick turnaround and change in timezone and conditions.

She's passed that test with flying colors. Dealt a tough draw, Swiatek handled Tokyo finalist Zheng Qinwen in three sets in her opening match and followed it up with a statement performance to beat Gauff. In every tournament at which she has played Gauff, Swiatek has gone on to win the title, having beaten the American at 2021 Rome, 2022 Miami, and 2022 Roland Garros.

The victory is Swiatek's 62nd of the season and 40th on hard court. Having won Indian Wells, Miami, and the US Open, the 21-year-old is now 22-1 in the United States this season. The first set against Gauff was her 20th 6-0 "bagel" set of the season, the most since Serena Williams posted 25 in her 2013 season.

Swiatek's Roland Garros redux continues: To win her eighth title of the season, Swiatek is going to have to go through Zheng, Gauff, and next Pegula. She beat all three in Paris to win her second major in the spring.

"I've played [Swiatek] so often that I kind of know what to expect," Pegula said. "She plays super athletic, aggressive, defends really well. She does everything at a really high level. She plays a little bit different than the girls and sometimes that can be the difference. You're not used to playing someone like her.

"I'd like to say maybe it's better playing her at the end of the year, but I don't know. We'll see how the match goes."

Swiatek and Pegula will lock horns for the fourth time this season. Swiatek has swept their sets, winning in the Miami semifinals, Roland Garros quarterfinals, and US Open quarterfinals last month.

"Jessie is one of the most solid players on tour so it's always hard," Swiatek said. "Our matches are always physical and really tight. Even though sometimes the scores are one way, you can see during the games we always have deuces and any point can matter.

"I'm pretty happy that we're going to play against each other because it's a test for me of where my level is because she's really, really solid."

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That's 62 wins for the year,11th semi final, 20th bagel set, (also has 20 6-1 sets).

40th hardcourt win (22-1 in the U.S.)

First woman since Serena in 2013 with 10,000 ranking points (4th overall since intro of computerized ranking).

Just Iga doing Iga things :)

Iga Swiatek makes it 61 wins for the season in San Diego

World No.1 Iga Swiatek opened her San Diego Open champion with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 victory over No.28 Zheng Qinwen. Swiatek will face No.8 Coco Gauff in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Playing her first match since the Ostrava final, Swiatek weathered both the rainy conditions and Zheng's heavy power game to earn her tour-leading 61st win of the year. San Diego will be her 12th quarterfinal of the season, also a tour-leading mark.

"Qinwen, she has a different game style because she's playing topspin on her forehand and the ball is flying pretty high," Swiatek said. "So today I had to adjust to that.

"But overall, the first matches of any tournament is about adjusting to the conditions we have here."

After a short rain delay, Swiatek pocketed the opening set with solid baseline play, absorbing Zheng's heavy pace and using her courtcraft to open up space on the court. After saving the only break point she faced in the set, Swiatek broke with a clean forehand return at 4-all and served out the opener. She out-hit Zheng with 11 winners to 6 and limited Zheng's second-serve success to 40%.

The second set went with serve before Zheng found herself facing multiple break points at 4-all. Zheng saved all five break points she faced before holding to 5-4, saving the first two with clean winners and engineering an audacious serve-and-volley play on the third. In the next game, Zheng finally broke Swiatek's serve to force the Pole into her third consecutive three-set match.

Turning point: Zheng earned an early break point at 1-0 in the final set, but Swiatek fought it off with just her second ace of the day. Swiatek went on to hold and broke Zheng for the first time since the first set to lead 2-1. With the lead in hand, Swiatek broke once more and took care of her serve to close out the win.

The victory moves Swiatek to 14-4 in three-set matches this season. She has not lost in the opening round of a tournament since 2021 Cincinnati, over a year ago.

Stat of the match: With titles in Indian Wells, Miami, and the US Open, she is now 21-1 in the United States this season.

The French Open final rematch is on: Swiatek will face No.8 Gauff in a rematch of the French Open final. It will be the third meeting between the two junior contemporaries but their first on a hard court. Swiatek has won all four sets they've played, first in Rome last year and Paris this spring.

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Officially the player with most matches won on tour this year (since Caro Wozniacki with 60 in 2017). 

2 more wins and she'll equal Angie Kerber in 2016. Unreal.

Iga Swiatek feeling fresh after Ostrava and back at it in San Diego

World No.1 Iga Swiatek would have been forgiven if she opted out of this week's San Diego Open. The 21-year-old put in a grueling and emotional effort at the AGEL Open in Ostrava last weekend to make her tour-leading eighth final of the season, narrowly losing out to former No.2 Barbora Krejcikova.

But withdrawing from San Diego never crossed Swiatek's mind.

"Even though I played two really long matches there I feel pretty fine physically," Swiatek told reporters Thursday in San Diego, where she is set to play her opening match. "The thing is that right now I feel more fresh because I had more time off after the US Open. So going into Ostrava I knew I could give everything and go all in."

"It's not that bad. It's the 'nice' jet lag, coming this way."

San Diego will be Swiatek's last regular-season tournament. She will stay in the United States after the tournament to practice and train for the WTA Finals in Fort Worth, Texas, which begins Oct. 31.

"It makes sense because I just have to have more matches before the WTA Finals," Swiatek said. "It would be pretty bad if I would have three weeks without matches because I would be a little bit not in the rhythm.

Swiatek took her tour-leading tally to 60 match-wins in Ostrava, becoming the first player to cross the 60-match mark since 2017. With seven titles under her belt, including Roland Garros and the US Open, it would be understandable if the World No.1 was feeling the wear and tear of her season.

Not so.

"Honestly, I feel great and that's weird because I thought after so many matches I was going to feel a lack of motivation, or I thought that if you're winning too much you're not going to have another goal to reach," Swiatek said.

"But honestly, it's the opposite. I'm even more fresh because winning keeps me really positive. I don't waste my energy and time coming back to this positive mindset. I feel like I can be in the rhythm and do my job on court and play. I feel really good."

Being self-motivated has meant eschewing the need for explicit goals to stay motivated. Swiatek does not need a carrot to chase. Her motivation comes purely from within. The result is a fresh mind and body as she finishes out the season.

"Right now I don't even feel like I need goals because I just really enjoy being on court and competing," Swiatek said. "So I'm just doing that. I'm not overanalyzing. I think that's pretty cool because last year I was analyzing everything and it made me really nervous before the WTA Finals. So this time I'm doing it a little bit differently.

"Right now I still find it pretty weird that I won the US Open and sometimes it just hits me out of nowhere and I'm like, that's cool."

Swiatek will open her tournament against No.28 Zheng Qinwen on Thursday.

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Iga Swiatek donates all Ostrava runner up money for mental health on World Mental Health Day

World No.1 Iga Swiatek's commitment to mental health advocacy is well-documented. The Polish star's commitment to the cause took another step on Sunday in the aftermath of her three-set defeat at the hands of Barbora Krejcikova in the final of the Agel Open: In her on-court interview, Swiatek revealed that she'll donated her prize money from the event to a Polish mental health non-profit.

Open about her work with sports psychologist Daria Abramowicz since her breakthrough win at Roland Garros in 2020, Swiatek first donated prize money to a mental health charity last year during the BNP Paribas Open in honor of World Mental Health Day, which is celebrated annually on Oct. 10.

Now World No.1, the 21-year-old made this year's commitment as part an emotional on-court runner-up speech in Ostrava, where she also took the time to thank the legions of fans who came from Poland to support her at the event.

While Swiatek has yet to announce what charity will receive the contribution, she says she has a few in mind, and expanded upon her reasonings for doing so in her post-match press conference.

"I really wanted to play well here to have a big amount of money to donate ... and I'm pretty happy that I could do that," Swiatek said.

"I really want to spread awareness and let people know that they can use the help if they need it, or help others if they have resources. I'm pretty happy to use my position that way."

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Iga Swiatek continues to inspire pride in my Polish roots. 

I honestly can't recall any player 21 or older who has used their platform for mental health awareness the way Iga has. She may be young, but Iga is wise beyond her years. 

I admit I still have not seen the Ostrava final due to it being 3 hour epic, but I definitely plan on watching it because as everyone keeps saying it was the final of the year.

Iga Swiatek makes it 60 wins for the season will battle for title #8 in Ostrava

 

World No.1 Iga Swiatek and Barbora Krejcikova will both carry winning streaks into Sunday’s championship match at the Agel Open.

Reigning US Open champion Swiatek won her 10th straight match by fending off a stern challenge from hard-hitting World No.21 Ekaterina Alexandrova, eventually prevailing 7-6(5), 2-6, 6-4 after 2 hours and 38 minutes of semifinal play.


The victory marks Swiatek's 60th match-win of the season, including Hologic WTA Tour events and Billie Jean King Cup action. She is the first player to hit 60 victories in a calendar year since Caroline Wozniacki finished 2017 with 60.

Swiatek is also into her eighth final of the season and is undefeated in finals so far in 2022. Throughout her career, Swiatek is 10-1 in Hologic WTA Tour singles finals, with her only loss coming to Polona Hercog in Swiatek’s very first final at 2019 Lugano.

Barbora Krejcikova will be Swiatek's opponent in Sunday's final. Krejcikova thrilled her homeland crowd in Ostrava, Czech Republic by battling past reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-4.

Swiatek has won both of her previous meetings with Krejcikova. Swiatek won in straight sets on the hard courts of Miami last year before a difficult three-set victory on the clay of Rome two months later.

"I know that [the final is] going to be tough, and Barbora plays a little bit differently than my opponent today, so tactically I have to be ready," Swiatek said, after her win. "It doesn’t really matter for me if it’s a final or any other round, I’m just going to give it my all."

Alexandrova had triumphed over Swiatek in their only prior encounter, which came at the Gippsland Trophy in Melbourne early last year. But Swiatek leveled their rivalry at 1-1, despite trailing Alexandrova in winners (34 to 25) and service breaks (3 to 2) on Saturday.

In fact, Alexandrova’s 17 winners in the first set was more than double Swiatek’s eight, but there were still no service breaks in the opener. In the tiebreak, Alexandrova’s errors mounted while Swiatek’s powerful shots peaked, and the top seed stole the set.

Things turned around in the second set when Alexandrova got the first break of the day with a backhand winner down the line for 2-0. Alexandrova raced to a 5-0 lead from there and held on to collect the second set.

The decisive third set was deadlocked through 3-3 before Swiatek drew errors from Alexandrova to break at love for 4-3. Swiatek pulled off a 12-point winning streak en route to 5-3, and powerful forehands helped the World No.1 wrap up the match two games later.

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