Iga Swiatek makes it record tying 37 straight wins at Wimbledon

World No.1 Iga Swiatek is up to 37 victories in a row, but her latest win came after an extended struggle. Swiatek of Poland overcame Dutch lucky loser Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in the second round of Wimbledon on Thursday.

Swiatek of Poland needed just over two hours on No.1 Court to quash the spirited effort by 30-year-old Pattinama Kerkhove and move into the third round at SW19 for the second straight season.

Words from the winner: "For sure my confidence, I build it during this season," Swiatek said afterward. "It's getting better and better on every tournament.

"I would say the grass is pretty tricky for me, I'm not going to lie. I guess you can see that I'm not playing maybe as efficiently as on other surfaces. Basically my confidence is getting better overall. But this tournament is tricky and I'm still feeling out how to play the best game here."


Swiatek prevails again: With the win over Pattinama Kerkhove, 21-year-old Swiatek surpassed Monica Seles’ 36-match winning streak from 1990 and matched Martina Hingis’ 37-match winning streak from the beginning of the 1997 season.

Swiatek’s run has led to six consecutive titles, spanning both hard courts (Doha, Indian Wells, Miami) and clay (Stuttgart, Rome, Roland Garros) and includes two wins for Team Poland at the Billie Jean King Cup.

Dutch challenge: However, World No.138 Pattinama Kerkhove severely tested the World No.1 in the Dutchwoman's first match against a Top 10 player. Pattinama Kerkhove, who was in the Wimbledon second round for the second straight year, was unfazed in just the sixth Grand Slam main-draw match of her career.

"I was just, like, 'Okay, go for it,'" Pattinama Kerkhove said in press. "Every point, every ball, I had to do it. When she's attacking, it's so tough to take the points to defend against her. So my goal was just like go for every shot, go for every ball, and play aggressive. I did. Actually, it worked well."

Pattinama Kerkhove took an early 4-2 lead behind sturdy forehands, but Swiatek began to find more reliable groundstrokes as the opener progressed. Using her own booming forehand, Swiatek swept the last four games to take a one-set lead.

But Pattinama Kerkhove also claimed the first break in the second set, and the Dutch player did not yield from 4-3 up this time. The World No.138, who lost in the final round of qualifying before taking injured Danka Kovinic's spot in the main draw, saved both break points she faced in the second set, leveling the match.

In the end, though, it was Swiatek who took charge in the decider, breaking for 3-1 with a rally forehand winner. That would be all the top seed needed to clinch the victory, and she prevailed with 31 winners to Pattinama Kerkhove's 15.

Next up: Swiatek will take on France’s Alizé Cornet in the third round, after Cornet dispatched American Claire Liu 6-3, 6-3 earlier on Thursday. It will be the first meeting between Swiatek and 32-year-old veteran Cornet.

Former World No.11 Cornet is playing her 62nd consecutive Grand Slam tournament, which ties Ai Sugiyama of Japan for the Open Era record. Cornet’s best Wimbledon result came in 2014, when she shocked No.1 seed Serena Williams to reach the Round of 16.

wtatennis.com

Iga Swiatek makes it 36 consecutive wins with Wimbledon opening round

It’s not always easy adjusting to new situations but that doesn’t apply if you’re Iga Swiatek.

Just 21 years old, the Pole is already a two-time Roland-Garros champion and the world No.1, unbeaten on tour since February.

When she won her first Grand Slam as an unseeded teenager in 2020, she adapted well to her new status and had a consistent 2021 campaign in which she reached the second week at each of the four Slams.

When she rose to No.1 in the world after Ashleigh Barty’s sudden retirement, Swiatek thrived under the spotlight and went on a raging winning streak – now up to 36 matches – that included her second triumph at Roland-Garros.


On Tuesday at Wimbledon, she was given the honour of opening Centre Court proceedings in the absence of last year’s champion Barty, and the top seed handled that novel experience with great poise, coming back from a 1-3 deficit in the second set to defeat Croatian qualifier Jana Fett 6-0, 6-3.

Swiatek improved her career record in Grand Slam openers to 13-1 and will take on Dutch lucky loser Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove in the second round.

“It’s my first match on grass this season, so I knew it was going to be tricky,” said Swiatek, who was competing for the first time since her Roland-Garros triumph three weeks ago.

“I’ve only played like 12 weeks in my life on grass, but the whole atmosphere, all the traditions this year, it’s really pumping me up.

“So I’m really motivated to play well here.”

Swiatek now owns the second-longest winning streak in women’s tennis since 1990; her 36th consecutive victory equalling Monica Seles’ run from 32 years ago. The last woman to win 36 or more straight matches was Martina Hingis in 1997.

Spending her 13th week as the world No.1, Swiatek feels proud of how well she has managed her sudden leap to the summit of the rankings.

“I do (enjoy it),” Swiatek said on court.

“I really worked on that and I knew how tough the last weeks were.

“My team gave me huge support and all the work we’ve been doing has clicked this season.

“I’m pretty sad that Ash (Barty) isn’t here because I would have loved to play against her on grass.

“But I feel like with her retirement, in the next couple of tournaments I realised that maybe it’s the right place to be.

“But I’m still trying to figure out how to stay in that position and be consistent here. So we’ll see.”

World No.252 Fett was contesting just her third Grand Slam main draw and was making her first Wimbledon appearance since 2018.

A former Wimbledon junior champion, Swiatek was on the attack from the get-go, breaking early and saving a break point on her own serve en route to a 3-0 lead.

Fett was playing very aggressively, going for her shots, and made too many errors as a result.

“Sometimes you just need to find your margins,” said former world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki, who was commentating on the match, as Fett fell behind a double-break.

A relentless Swiatek refused to let up as Fett tried hard to hold in game six, and she soon grabbed her 17th bagel set of the season on her third opportunity.

The second set followed a different script, however

Fett finally got on the board after 37 minutes of play, breaking Swiatek as the first three games all went against serve. The Croatian was unfazed when she lost her advantage and eventually consolidated her break for a 3-1 lead.

Swiatek dug deep to stave off five break points in game five and took advantage of Fett’s struggles with her ball toss to strike back and level for 3-3.

As Fett’s serving woes continued, Swiatek made it five games in a row to storm into the second round in 75 minutes.

wimbledon.com

Iga Swiatek, the Paris love affair

 

Iga Swiatek 2-time French Open & Grand Slam Champion!!

 

The world No.1 seems unstoppable as she surpasses Serena Williams' career-best unbeaten run.

For most tennis players, winning their first Grand Slam title is a moment they will never forget and often never surpass.

For Iga Swiatek, winning a second Roland-Garros title in three years, when the eyes of the world were on her, meant even more than her first.

While her first triumph, in 2020, came almost out of the blue, this time she was the bookmakers favourite, the one everyone knew they had to beat, which brings its own pressure.

Not only did she deal with it, she dealt with it in style and on Saturday, in front of Polish royalty in the form of football star Robert Lewandowski, she produced a performance worthy of a world No.1 as she beat American teenager Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-3.

“It feels amazing really, very different from 2020,” said the 21-year-old Swiatek. “I feel more prepared, more solid. I can celebrate a little bit more.

“I think in 2020 the main thing that I felt was confusion, because I have never really believed 100 per cent that I can actually win a Grand Slam.

“This time it was pure work and pure... I don't know. Just with everything that was going on, I'm also more aware of how it is to win a Grand Slam and what it takes and how every puzzle has to come together and basically every aspect of the game has to work.

“With that awareness, I was even more happy and even more proud of myself, because in 2020 it was all, I just felt that I'm lucky. This time I felt like I really did the work.”

Swiatek picked up her second Grand Slam title with a performance full of power, precision and maturity as she blew away Gauff in the first set and then, when the 18-year-old threatened to fight back, slammed the door in her face to win her sixth straight tournament.

The Pole is the first woman to win six events in a row since Justine Henin in 2007/8 and her 35th straight win puts her level with Venus Williams – and one ahead of Serena Williams – in terms of the most consecutive wins this century on the WTA tour.

“It may seem pretty weird but having that 35th win and kind of doing something more than Serena did, it's something special,” she said. “Because I always wanted to be, I don't know, to have some kind of a record. In tennis it's pretty hard after Serena's career.

“So basically that really hit me, you know. Obviously winning a Grand Slam too, but this one was pretty special because I felt like I've done something that nobody ever done, and maybe it's going to be even more. Yeah, this one was special.”

Lewandowski was sat just behind the Swiatek player box, where her coaches wore shirts which read: “You didn’t wake up to be ordinary”.

Luckily, Swiatek had not spotted Poland’s most famous footballer. If she had, she might have lost her concentration.

"I didn't know Lewandowski was there, and I'm happy because I would get so stressed,” she said. “I don’t know if he’s a huge tennis fan. Wow, he’s been like the top athlete in our country for so many years, it’s hard to believe actually that he came to watch me. I hope he liked it. I'm just overwhelmed.”

Swiatek admitted that she had felt more pressure than ever before, to fulfil everyone’s expectations and show she was worthy of being No.1.

“It is like basically the hardest part of the job, I would say, because you can see on Grand Slams that there are a lot of surprises,” she said. “It's not easy to cope with all that different atmosphere and the pressure, because everybody is preparing for the Grand Slam always.

“For me, I felt the baggage. The hardest thing is like not letting yourself think about that and over-analyse and not letting yourself think about all the numbers and the odds.


“I have been doing that for a few months now, and for sure, two weeks here were harder, also because you guys keep reminding me about all this stuff. But it's part of the work and I'm getting better and better at it, and that's also something that I'm proud of.”

Swiatek will now head to the grass-court season as the favourite for Wimbledon, where she won the junior title in 2018 but where she has yet to go past the last 16 in the women’s event.

Expectations will be sky-high from outside, but not from inside, she said.

“My coach believes I can win more matches on grass,” she said. “I don't know about that yet. But I would like to add like one or two. Honestly, grass is always tricky. I actually like the part that I have no expectations there. It's something kind of refreshing.

“I'm going to just prepare my best and maybe with his experiences that he had with Aga Radwanska, it was her favourite surface, so maybe he's going to give me some tips that are actually going to be really helpful, and I'm going to enjoy playing on grass a little bit more.”

rolandgarros.com

* Matched Venus Williams’ run of 35 straight victories in 2000.

* Only the 10th woman to win multiple Roland Garros singles titles in the Open Era (since 1968). Having just turned 21 on Tuesday, Swiatek is the fourth youngest player to triumph more than once in Paris -- only Monica Seles, Stefanie Graf, and Chris Evert were younger.

* Youngest woman to win multiple majors since Maria Sharapova won her second Grand Slam title aged 19 at the 2006 US Open.

* Sixth title of the year, all coming in a row during her winning streak (following Doha, Indian Wells, Miami, Stuttgart and Rome). She is the first player to win six titles in a row since Justine Henin in 2007 and 2008.

* If Swiatek can win her next match, she will hold the best winning streak of the century alone and tie Monica Seles’ run of 36 straight victories from 1990. Another victory after that would tie Martina Hingis’ 37-match winning streak from 1997.

Well she flipped that switch again didn't she?. I have honestly run out of words to describe how amazing Iga Swiatek is when it comes to finals. 

She just always seems to reach her highest level right at the end of a tournament and the final in particular. It's an ability and mentality only true champions seem to possess. 

I truly hope she gets a decent break to relax and not think about tennis for a while. Because the mental strength this win streak requires must be extremely exhausting. 

Iga is now the first Polish 2 time French Open and Grand Slam Champion, at the age of 21. 

It's just incredible. 

I watched the final with my mom and when Iga shed a few tears as they played Poland's national anthem we got teary eyed along with her. 

Feeling enormous national pride is not something that we get to enjoy every day, so it felt wonderful for my mom and I to experience it together.

I'm looking forward to Iga playing on the grass something tells me with Tomasz Wiktorowski in her corner, grass season will yield some decent results too. Rest up Iga see you on the green stuff!.  

Iga Swiatek makes it 34 consecutive wins to reach 2nd Roland Garros Final!

Back into the Roland-Garros final for the second time in three years and riding a head-turning winning streak, world No.1 Iga Swiatek is a player at the peak of her powers.

The Polish player confounds her opponents, and overwhelms them with her stellar court coverage and aggressive game style – qualities that were on full display in her 6-2, 6-1 rout of Daria Kasatkina on Thursday at Court Philippe-Chatrier.

But ever the champion, Swiatek is not satisfied yet. Nor is she anywhere close to her highest level, as she told press in a revealing self-assessment after that semi-final.

“I'm even more happy with the performance than after the previous match,” Swiatek said, referring to her similarly lop-sided 6-3, 6-2 win over Jessica Pegula. “Because I feel like my game is getting more and more solid.

“I can really loosen up when I'm getting advantage and when I'm having a break, so that's great. I feel like I'm playing better every match.”

A Swiatek that is playing loose and getting better with every match? That would send an ominous message to the rest of the field – except that she’s already swept them aside over six matches at Roland-Garros.

The Pole came into the French capital having not lost a match since February – a 34-match winning run that has seen Swiatek lift trophies in Doha, Indian Wells and Miami during the hard court swing, and continue without missing a beat by winning Stuttgart and Rome in the build-up to Roland-Garros.

While others may have crumpled under the spotlight and pressure, the 21-year-old has been taking everything in stride and avoiding expectations – with a bit of help from her team.

“I try not to hold it inside, and I try to talk with the whole team about it,” she said. “It's just cool that I have people around that I trust, and I can just talk about some stuff over lunch.

“But for sure the pep talks that I have before the match are really helpful, both from the coach [Tomasz Wiktorowski] and both from Daria [Abramowicz, my psychologist]. We already have this kind of routine that is working perfectly, and we are trying to hold on to that.”

With her sports psychologist in tow, Swiatek has been winning the mental game at Roland-Garros, as well as the tactical one. She stayed cool under the glare of many a viewfinder, dropping just one set en route to the final.

Not to mention, Swiatek developed an aura during her winning run, with her opponents already on edge by the time they strike the first ball. And with good reason: when she lost the opening set in her fourth-round to Zheng Qinwen, Swiatek responded by raising her level and winning 12 of the next 14 games, 6-7(5), 6-0, 6-2.

“When I learned how to also improve during tournaments and how to loosen up during tournaments, I think it's pretty great, because the beginnings are tough,” she said. “Here I feel better and better every match, so I hope it's going to stay that way.

“It's a nice feeling to have, because usually, it's sometimes the opposite. For other players when they are going to higher rounds they are more stressed, and I'm working pretty hard at the beginning to avoid that.”

Swiatek has indeed been looking positively serene as the tournament draws to a close. She’s one win away from lifting her second Roland-Garros trophy, with 18-year-old Coco Gauff playing in her first Grand Slam final standing in her way.

It will be a full-circle role reversal for Swiatek. Back in 2020, the unheralded Pole ranked No.54 stunned the world when she toppled world No.2 Simona Halep – snapping the heavily favoured Romanian’s own 17-match win streak on her way to the trophy.

Gauff could now do the same to her in the final. But Swiatek – who owns the 2-0 lead in their head-to-head – is determined to stick to the game plan, for one last bit of magic on Saturday.

“Just being able to be in the final again, it's great,” said Swiatek. “Especially when I didn't know actually how I'm gonna play here after so many tournaments that I played.

“It seemed kind of obvious for me that the streak may come to an end soon. So I just wanted to take it really step by step. I didn't have any exact goals on this tournament.

“Just seeing how my game is developing every match, it's something that's giving me a lot of hope and I'm just proud of myself.”

rolandgarros.com

Looks like I was stressing for nothing. Iga as she has done so many times before this season turned the switch on again and played one of her best matches of the tournament. An even more impressive effort than her quarter final against Jessica Pegula. 

Granted Kasatkina was nowhere near her best level and made a lot of errors. But it was also Iga's aggressiveness and taking the ball early that helped her really control the match and not allow her opponent room to breathe. Which is something I said she would have to do in my quarter finals blog post. 

She will now face someone younger than her. It'll be interesting to see who really handles their nerves better Gauff up to this point has been very impressive other than having a few tight moments at the beginning of her semi today she played with control and freedom. But being in a semi final and a final are often two very different things. 

So it'll be fascinating to see how Gauff handles the occasion of being in her first ever Grand Slam final. 

Iga has had some experience at this particular tournament having won it 2 years ago and she has this uncanny ability of playing her best in finals (she has won 7 of the 8 finals played in her career thus far). 

If both play at their highest level it could be the most competitive women's final Roland Garros has had in years, and I am very much looking forward to it. 

Saturday cannot come soon enough!. Jazda Iga, you've made it this far you can take it all the way.

Iga Swiatek makes it 33 consecutive wins to get back into Roland Garros semis

The world No.1 needed just 89 minutes to soar into the final four, where she meets Kasatkina

Another challenger swept aside, Iga Swiatek is just two matches away from reclaiming her Roland-Garros crown.

The 2020 champion toasted her 21st birthday on Tuesday and celebrated by extending her winning streak to 33 matches with a commanding 6-3, 6-2 victory over Jessica Pegula on Wednesday.

The world No.1 returns to the semi-finals with world No.20 Daria Kasatkina standing in her path.

Thursday will witness Swiatek's third career Grand Slam semi-final appearance and her second of the year.

Story of the match

Once again Swiatek made a fast start, skipping to the backhand corner to unleash an inside-out forehand winner for an immediate break.

With the Pole racing 40-0 up, it looked like world No.11 Pegula was in for a torrid time on Court Philippe-Chatrier, but the American dug in and claimed five successive points to rebound for 1-all. An eight-minute hold later and Pegula was on the front foot.

Not quite. Swiatek capped a riveting rally with a cross-court backhand winner, moments before sprinkling in some true magic.

The 21-year-old chased what seemed to be a lost cause from a deft Pegula drop shot and mid-slide, nearly in the split position, directed the ball towards the umpire’s chair for a decisive 4-3 break.

The Pole was forcing Pegula into going for fine margins and a brace of forehands narrowly missed the mark, handing the top seed a one-set lead.

Pegula, competing in her third major quarter-final - and first one clay - clattered an inside-in backhand to keep in touch.

A crafty wrong-footing forehand capped a 26-shot rally for a rare break opportunity. But the forehand return slipped off radar just at the wrong time. Swiatek escaped and won three consecutive games to motor 4-1 in front.

Pegula was on the back foot too much, Swiatek converting her fourth match point with a slingshot backhand, raising her right arm up to the sky in celebration.

Key stats

The world No.1 scribbled her wrong age on the broadcast camera, but the most important number was 33 for the number of successive wins.

Swiatek stands alone as the third-longest streak this century on the WTA tour, which includes prevailing in 48 of her past 50 sets on court.

The 21-year-old (Not 22, Iga) enjoyed a successful afternoon at the net, winning 9/10 points up front.

She was also impressive on her second serve, winning 16/20 (75 per cent) of the points behind it, avoiding Jessica's punishing return game.

What the players said

“I guess flying wasn’t a good option, because she was playing so low. I actually needed to not fly,” joked Swiatek in her post-match interview.

“It was really hard as sometimes she was changing the rhythm. I’m happy, I was playing with good dynamics and pushed her back a fair bit.”

Asked about her pre-match nerves, Swiatek quickly retorted: “Oh yeah I do, I think if I stop being nervous, something weird is going on, because there are always nerves, but stress can sometimes be a positive thing.

“It can make you more active and intense, so I try to use it that way to get my best performances.

rolandgarros.com

Back in the Roland Garros semis!. 

Kasatkina could be tricky so I never underestimate her. 

And yes Iga has won their last 3 meetings but those were all on hard courts. They have never faced off on clay so that alone could be very interesting. 

But I'm hoping that just like today when Iga is playing an opponent who's familiar she'll be less stressed and stays fully focused. 

And that by playing aggressive and taking time away from Kastkina it'll allow Iga to stay on the front foot and prevent Kasatkina from implementing too much of her variety. 

Kasatkina has been playing extremely well this tournament so well in fact that she has not lost a set and very few games ( I think she has lost less games than Iga did in 2020 when she won it). 

So again won't be easy. But Iga will be Kasatkina's first real test as well, because the players she has faced while they've been good they're nowhere near Iga's caliber I also think nerves will play a large role in this match. 

Kasatkina had a tough time closing out her quarter final so that might be something Iga can use. Keep putting pressure on her which will more than likely cause some unforced errors. 

But all this is speculative of course and both players will have to handle their nerves and be on their game if they want to win it. 

And tomorrow I am hoping that winner will be Iga. Jazda!.