Iga Swiatek advances to Warsaw quarters to keep her clay win streak alive

 

No.1 seed Iga Swiatek's victorious homecoming continued with a 6-3, 6-2 defeat of lucky loser Gabriela Lee to reach the BNP Paribas Poland Open quarterfinals.

The result extended Swiatek's clay-court winning streak to 18, and her overall 2022 record to 48-4. The World No.1 has not lost a match on clay since the 2021 Roland Garros quarterfinals, where she fell to Maria Sakkari.

Against No.146-ranked Lee, Swiatek delivered an efficient and aggressive performance, firing 25 winners to the Romanian's three. Despite the rankings gulf, though, Texas Tech alumna Lee held her own for significant portions of the match.

Lee's unique game -- the 25-year-old is a left-hander with a one-handed backhand -- took some time for Swiatek to adapt to, and the first half of the first set took the pair to level pegging at 3-3. But a first double fault from Lee opened the door for Swiatek, and the Pole stormed through it, breaking with a ferocious inside-in forehand.

Swiatek had been near-flawless on serve in the first set, conceding only one point behind her delivery. Lee found her range on return slightly more in the second set, and even held break-back point trailing 4-1 following an exquisite dropshot. But Lee squandered her sole chance with a forehand error, and Swiatek motored to the finishing line.

Swiatek will next face No.5 seed Caroline Garcia in the quarterfinals. The Frenchwoman defeated Elisabetta Cocciaretto for the second time in as many weeks, backing up her 0-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory in Palermo with a 6-3, 7-5 scoreline in Warsaw.

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Iga Swiatek returns to winning ways on home soil in Warsaw

World No.1 Iga Swiatek enjoyed a happy homecoming at the BNP Paribas Poland Open, defeating Magdalena Frech 6-1, 6-2 in the first round.

Playing her first tournament since her historic 37-match win streak come to an end in the third round of Wimbledon, Swiatek dominated her compatriot to return to her winning ways.

"For sure playing in your hometown with all that crowd is pretty extraordinary," Swiatek said. "I didn't get a chance to play many tournaments in Poland so for sure I needed extra focus and determination to come here and stay in the zone and not let my head think about other stuff."

"I'm happy that I was solid today because Magda is not an easy opponent. From the beginning I wanted to put pressure on her and I did that pretty well. I'm pretty sure with our styles the result may be different on different surfaces, for example, grass. But here I didn't have a problem coming back with my topspins."

The victory brings Swiatek's tour-leading record to 47-4 this season and extended her clay-court win streak to 17 matches. The two-time French Open champion has lost just two sets over that span, winning Stuttgart, Rome, and Roland Garros this year. Swiatek is the fifth player in the 2000s to win 17 or more consecutive matches on clay, following in the footsteps of Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Justine Henin, and Maria Sharapova.

The last player to beat Swiatek on clay is Maria Sakkari, who ended her title defense in Paris last year.

Behind an efficient serving day, Swiatek did not face a break point in the match. After breaking to 3-1 in the opening set, the reigning French Open champion won five consecutive games to pocket the set in just over 30 minutes.

Swiatek did not let up in the second set. With Frech double-faulting to hand over the initial break at 3-2, the top seed reeled off the final five games of the second set to seal the 74-minute win.

"I had a break after Wimbledon but I pretty quickly forgot about it because I trained really hard. We had a small pre-season before this tournament. So physically I feel great. Mentally I had some challenges, like having that exhibition match in Krakow, which was really emotional. Mentally, it was crazy all that happened there."

Swiatek will face Romania's Gabriela Lee in the second round. After earning entry into the main draw as a lucky loser, Lee defeated Raluka Serban 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 in the first round.

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Iga Swiatek and Friends for Ukraine

 

World No.1 Iga Swiatek hosted the "Swiatek & Friends for Ukraine" charity exhibition at the Tauron Arena in Krakow, Poland on Saturday. Joined by former World No.2 Agnieszka Radwanska, 2018 WTA Finals Champion Elina Svitolina, ATP player Sergiy Stakhovsky and rising Polish junior Martyn Pawelski, Swiatek entertained her home crowd in mixed doubles and singles. Ukrainian footballer Andrey Shevchenko also attended as a special guest.

Watch a replay of the event here.

Swiatek and Pawelski would take the entertaining mixed doubles on a deciding point but the marquee event of the day was Swiatek's singles set against Radwanska. The torch-bearer for Polish tennis over the last decade, Radwanska retired in 2018. That same year, a 17-year-old Swiatek won junior Wimbledon. The two narrowly missed each other on the Hologic WTA Tour.

"It's pretty funny because when I started on WTA, that was her first year where she didn't play," Swiatek said. "I was pretty sad that we never got a chance to even be around [each other]."

The idea for the charity exhibition had been percolating in Swiatek's mind ever since the war broke out in February. It was formally hatched during discussions with her team on the flight from Doha to Indian Wells. Swiatek initially reached out to Svitolina for the one-on-one exhibition, but the Ukrainian was sidelined due to pregnancy. That paved the way for Swiatek to reach out to Radwanska.

Radwanska began training in earnest to prepare for her showdown with the World No.1. She impressed at the Wimbledon Legends event earlier in the month as well, playing with Jelena Jankovic. After spending the week practicing with Swiatek, Radwanska was ready. The veteran used all her court-craft and guile to keep Swiatek moving all over the court to take the exhibition match 6-4.

"I would have never expected to play singles with the world’s best player and, on top of that, in my hometown of Kraków," Radwanska said. "I did this only because of the superb initiative, not for the sake of my career.

"When I got a call from Iga, I could not reject her proposal. Events like this are probably the best way to help children from Ukraine who were left with nothing. We can hope that this will help them return to normal life."

The event was a resounding success, raising over 400,000 Euros for three organizations that have worked to provide relief and aid to Ukrainian children: United 24, UNICEF Polska and the Elina Svitolina Foundation.

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Ode to Iga Swiatek's 135-day, 37-match unbeaten streak

World No.1 Iga Swiatek's 37-match win streak came to an end Saturday in the third round at Wimbledon, capping off a remarkable run for the 21-year-old Polish star.

Swiatek had not lost a match since winning her first title of the season at the Qatar Total Open in February. Over that span, she won six consecutive titles, including Indian Wells and Miami where she became the youngest woman to complete the Sunshine Double.

The streak continued through her favorite surface, clay, where she won Stuttgart, Rome and her second major title at Roland Garros. And in the midst of it all, she handled her sudden ascension to World No.1 with unprecedented poise.

Swiatek's hot hand finally cooled on the grass at Wimbledon, where Alizé Cornet snapped the streak in the third round, winning 6-4, 6-2. It was a deja vu moment for the 32-year-old Frenchwoman. Her last complete match-win over a reigning No.1 came in the third round at Wimbledon in 2014, also on No.1 Court, where she defeated Serena Williams.

Swiatek takes the loss in stride: "Usually I am hard on myself. Here, I know how I felt before matches, I know how I felt when I was practicing. Let's just say that I didn't feel like I'm in a best shape. So I'm kind of aware that this could happen. Maybe it's not the right attitude to have, but it is like it is.

"I tried many things to feel better on court, on grass court, but it didn't really work out. That's why I'm not even hard on myself because, like, it's kind of logic that if I couldn't find it even on practices, I'm not going to find it on a match."

Next up for Swiatek: The World No.1 admitted she still needs to time to process the significance and impact of her six-title winning streak, so rest and relaxation will certainly be on the menu. But her next appearance on court will be an exciting one. Swiatek announced during the first week of Wimbledon that she and her team have organized a charity exhibition in Krakow, which will feature Agnieszka Radwanska and Elina Svitolina.

"When we were in States we thought that maybe this would be a nice thing to do," Swiatek said. "It's really exciting because I feel like we don't have enough events like that in Poland. I really want to show people tennis from a different perspective. I hope it's going to be fun."

The Swiatek Streak in numbers

Doha: The streak begins


1: Number of wins by Swiatek over a Top 10 player on hard court before Doha.

3: Top 10 players Swiatek defeated en route to her first title of the season in Doha. The win is the second WTA 1000 title of her career.

0: Wins for Swiatek against Maria Sakkari (0-3) and Aryna Sabalenka (0-1) going into Doha. After beating them in back-to-back matches in Doha, she has not lost to either player since.

1: Set lost by Swiatek in Doha, which came to Viktorija Golubic in the first round.

2: Games lost in the final against Anett Kontaveit.

Indian Wells: The streak solidifies, moving to 11


20: Wins for Swiatek in 2022 after defeating Maria Sakkari 6-4, 6-1 in the final, the most on tour.

2: Swiatek's new career-high ranking after winning her second-straight WTA 1000 title.

3: Comebacks from a set down for Swiatek in Indian Wells, doing so to beat Anhelina Kalinina, Clara Tauson and Angelique Kerber in her first three matches. She has had seven such comebacks in 2022. Prior to this season, she had just eight in her career.

11: Consecutive wins for Swiatek, tying then No.1 Ashleigh Barty for the longest winning streak of the season.

Miami: The streak moves to 17 after a history-making Sunshine Double win


1: Swiatek became the first player to ever win the first three WTA 1000 events of a season.

4: Women who have completed the Sunshine Double by winning Indian Wells and Miami back-to-back in a single season: Stefanie Graf, Kim Clijsters, Victoria Azarenka and Swiatek.

0: Sets dropped by Swiatek en route to the Miami title.

1: Swiatek's ranking after Miami, taking over from Ashleigh Barty after the Australian's sudden retirement.

Billie Jean King Cup: Swiatek makes it 19 straight after domination at home

2: Matches played by Swiatek.

3: Bagel sets dished out by Swiatek in her two matches.

1: Game lost over the weekend, leading Poland to a 4-0 win over Romania.
Stuttgart: The streak moves to 23 after a fourth consecutive title


26: Consecutive sets Swiatek had won before losing the first set to Liudmila Samsonova in the semifinals. It was the only set Swiatek dropped in her Stuttgart debut.

30: Match-wins for Swiatek after defeating Aryna Sabalenka 6-2, 6-2 in the final.

23: Consecutive wins for Swiatek after securing the Stuttgart title, tying Naomi Osaka's 23-match streak that was built across the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

Rome: After skipping Madrid, Swiatek extends the streak to 28

21: Games lost by Swiatek in Rome, her fifth consecutive title, the fewest number of games lost since Serena Williams dropped 14 in 2013. It is the fewest number of games lost en route to a title this season.

3: Swiatek is the third-youngest player to win two titles in Rome. 20-years-old at the time, she is older than only Chris Evert and Gabriela Sabatini.

1: First successful title defense for Swiatek, who won her first WTA 1000 title in Rome in 2021.

2: Players to win four or more WTA 1000 titles in the same season. Swiatek joined Serena Williams, who won five in 2013.

8: Players who have won five or more WTA 1000 titles (since 2009). Swiatek, who has now won five, joined the list that includes Caroline Wozniacki, Victoria Azarenka, Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, Petra Kvitova, Simona Halep and Agnieszka Radwanska.

6: Years since a player has won a fifth WTA 1000 title. Agnieszka Radwanska won her fifth and final WTA 1000 at 2016 Beijing.

Roland Garros: Swiatek matches Venus Williams' 2000 mark to win her second major

35: Consecutive wins for Swiatek after winning seven matches to capture her second Roland Garros title, matching Venus Williams' 35-match win streak in 2000.

1: Set lost by Swiatek en route to the title. The only player to take a set off her during the fortnight was Chinese teenager Zheng Qinwen.

3: Number of players younger than Swiatek to win their second title at Roland Garros: Monica Seles, Stefanie Graf, and Chris Evert.

2: Number of players who have a higher winning percentage than Swiatek at Roland Garros. Swiatek's 91.3% winning percentage is bested only by Margaret Court (95.2%) and Chris Evert (92.3%).

2013: The last time a player made six or more finals in the first six months of the year. Serena Williams made seven in 2013.

Wimbledon: Swiatek matches Hingis' 1997 run before streak ends at 37 wins.

11: Years since a player younger than Swiatek was the top seed at Wimbledon (Caroline Wozniacki, 2011).

3: Surfaces Swiatek won on during her four-month streak. With her first-round win over Jana Fett, Swiatek's streak officially spanned hard courts, clay courts and grass courts.

17: Number of 6-0 sets tallied by Swiatek in 2022. She notched her 17th against Croatian qualifier Jana Fett in the first round.

37: Consecutive wins for Martina Hingis in her 1997 campaign. Swiatek matched the mark by winning her second-round match over Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove. This is the longest win streak since Stefanie Graf won 66 consecutive matches across 1989 and 1990.

135: Days that Swiatek remained unbeaten. Her 37-match streak finally ended at the hands of France's Alizé Cornet, 6-4, 6-2 in the third round.

44: Wins for Swiatek as she leaves Wimbledon, posting a tour-leading 44-3 record through the first seven months of the season.

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The streak ends at 37 for Iga Świątek I knew if it was going to end it would end on her weakest surface against a veteran grass court player. 

I'm also glad it ended earlier in the tournament where it's not a big heart break.

A quarter or semi would have hurt. This result while disappointing doesn't shock or surprise me. At 21 Iga has plenty of time to get better on the grass. 1 lost match in 37 straight victories (44 for the season thus far) isn't the end of the world.

And it does not in any way negate the amazing form and feats Iga has accomplished so far in 2022.

Now she can stop feeling the pressure of the win streak and play freely and assuredly on the hard courts of the U.SA. Keep your head up Iga you are a phenomenal player and leader of the sport.

On to the next one. Jazda!