Iga Świątek of Poland Celebrates 100th Week as the WTA Tour's Number 1 Player
Świątek is the ninth player to achieve this milestone in the Open Era.
The tennis rankings have just updated for the week. With this update, Iga Świątek of Poland, 22, is officially celebrating her 100th week overall as the Number 1 player on the WTA Tour. She becomes the ninth player to achieve this feat since the creation of the current rankings system in November 1975.
Świątek joins an elite group of players with this achievement. That includes Steffi Graf (377), Martina Navratilova (332), Serena Williams (319), Chris Evert (260), Martina Hingis (209), Monica Seles (178), Ashleigh Barty (121) and Justine Henin (117).
Świątek first achieved the Number 1 distinction on April 4, 2022 following the retirement of Barty from professional tennis. She became the first player representing Poland to achieve this status. She ultimately spent 75 consecutive weeks at Number 1. That’s the third-longest streak among players in their first stint as the tour’s top player - following only Graf (186) and Hingis (80).
On September 11, 2023, Świątek ceded the Number 1 ranking to Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus - making her own debut at the top spot. That was the result of a fourth round defeat at the 2023 U.S. Open. However, Świątek ultimately ended the season as the year-end Number 1 with her victory at the 2023 WTA Finals. She assumed the top ranking again on November 6, 2023 and has maintained it ever since.
Having turned pro in 2016, Świątek has won 19 titles throughout her singles career to date. Most notably, she is a four-time Grand Slam winner. She won the French Open in 2020, 2022 and 2023. She also prevailed at the U.S. Open in 2022. Furthermore, she is an eight-time winner at WTA 1000-level events - which includes winning each of the Indian Wells Open, the Italian Open and the Qatar Open twice. By surface, she has claimed twelve titles on hard courts and seven titles on clay courts.
During the 2024 season so far, Świątek has won more points than any other player. She has participated in seven events overall and has finished at the semifinals or better in five of them. She has already won two titles this year - at Qatar and Indian Wells. She led the Polish team at the 2024 United Cup where they lost to Germany in the final. She reached the semifinals at the Dubai Tennis Championships and the Porsche Grand Prix last week. At the calendar year’s sole Grand Slam event to date, the 2024 Australian Open, Świątek lost in a shocking upset against Linda Nosková of the Czech Republic in the third round.
Between April 23 and May 5, the WTA Tour will conduct its latest 1000-level event - the 2024 Madrid Open in Madrid, Spain. Świątek will be competing as the top seed. She was a finalist here in 2023. Despite that, she isn’t at risk of losing the Number 1 ranking as Sabalenka is the defending champion. That guarantees several more weeks for Świątek as the Number 1 player on the WTA Tour.