“Even more surreal to me”
Swiatek becomes number one and remains unbeatable
4/2/2022, 10:17 p.m
The Polish Iga Swiatek becomes the new number one in the world tennis rankings. The 20-year-old refined this triumph with an unbelievable run and two top-class tournament wins in a row. In the Miami final, she outclassed a great predecessor.
After her triumph in Indian Wells, the new world number one, Iga Swiatek, also won the WTA tournament in Miami and thus won the so-called “Sunshine Double”. The Pole beat the Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka in the final in 1:19 hours 6: 4, 6: 0, for Swiatek it was the third tournament win in a row and the sixth on the WTA tour.
Swiatek, who celebrated her 17th win in a row, made the jump to the top of the rankings clear with her second-round win against Viktorija Golubic in Miami. It will be number one from Monday. This was made possible by the surprising retirement of Australia’s Ashleigh Barty, who had been ahead of the rankings for more than two years. Before Indian Wells, Swiatek had managed to win the tournament in Doha. Osaka knocked out top German player Angelique Kerber in the second round in Miami.
Swiatek is also the youngest player to win the WTA 1000 tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami in one year. For Osaka, it was the first final on the WTA tour since winning the Australian Open more than a year ago.
The previous Australian Ashleigh Barty surprisingly retired this week and her name will no longer appear in the rankings at her request. So Swiatek moves up. “I never really expected that to happen, which makes it even more surreal for me,” said the 20-year-old, who had advanced to the top of the world in 2020 by surprisingly winning the French Open.
