Iga Swiatek of Poland became the new world number one in women’s tennis on Friday. She defeated Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland 6-2, 6-0 at the WTA Miami Open. Swiatek will replace Ashleigh Barty, the three-time Grand Slam champion from Australia, who announced her retirement earlier this week.
“I am really satisfied and proud of myself for reaching the No.1 spot,” Swiatek said. “I feel like my tennis is going the right way and my goal is to stay at No.1 and continue what I am doing.”
She said, “Polish fans continue to grow more and more passionate about tennis. It is amazing to see and one of my goals is to make tennis more popular in Poland. I hope this will help grow the game. The support from home and all around the world has been great.”
To assure that she would replace Barty in the next rankings next month, the 20-year-old Warsaw-born star needed to win her second-round match at the South Florida hardcourt tournament.
Following the victory, tournament director James Blake and former WTA number one Lindsay Davenport cheered and praised Swiatek in an on-court ceremony.
Swiatek will become the first Polish woman to reach the top of the rankings. She broke the previous record held by former world number two Agnieszka Radwanska. She earned Poland’s first Grand Slam singles victory at the 2020 French Open.
Swiatek has had a fantastic start to the season. She won WTA titles in Doha and Indian Wells and is currently on a 12-match winning run. This is a career-high. She’s also the first player to win five or more titles before turning 21.
If Iga Swiatek had lost, Paula Badosa could have taken over as number one, but the Spaniard would have been required to win the Miami Open to do so. Swiatek is the 28th woman to reach the WTA summit and the youngest since Caroline Wozniacki in 2010, but she doesn’t expect much to change for her as a result of her ascent.
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