By Randy Walker
@TennisPublisher
“She went from being elated to be No. 2 to ‘Oh my goodness’” said former world No. 1 Lindsay Davenport on Tennis Channel of Iga Swiatek in March at the Miami Open when the Pole was surprisingly moved to the WTA top ranking after the shock retirement of Ash Barty of Australia.
Swiatek was fresh off winning the singles title at Indian Wells in a “Battle for the No. 2 ranking” against Maria Sakkari, but the following week, when Barty announced her sudden and immediate retirement, Swiatek, then 20 years old, was suddenly thrust into the top rung of women’s tennis, just days after she ascended to the No. 2 ranking.
“I have to think that it will be a bit overwhelming for her,” said Lindsay Davenport of the sudden adjustment to her status in the game as being the hunter to being the hunted.
It’s a natural and rationale expectation of a young player thrust into that situation suddently. However, Swiatek responded by seizing the No. 1 ranking perhaps not like anyone ever before. She capped this incredible streak of success in her new found perch by winning her 35th straight match by defeating 18-year-old Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-3 in the final of the French Championships in Paris. Swiatek has won 17 straight matches since she was presented with the fact that would be the sudden world No. 1, including winning the title in Miami as well as Stuttgart and Rome. She hasn’t lost since February 16 when she lost in the second round of Dubai to another French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko. Her only losses for the year were to Danielle Collins in the semifinals of the Australian Open and to Barty in the semifinals of Adelaide.
It was her second title at Roland Garros after being in another sudden and transitional circumstance in the Fall of 2020 when she was ranked No. 54 in the world and was the unexpected singles winner in Paris when she defeated reigning Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin in the final.
“It’s coming together, like a puzzle,” said Swiatek to NBC’s Maria Taylor of her rise and adjustment to be the top dog in women’s tennis.
Swiatek swatted 18 winners in the final, many from her lethal forehand which Mary Carillo on NBC described as “the biggest single shot in women’s tennis.”
“There really is no equal to the Iga Swiatek forehand on the women’s side,” said Cariilo, comparing the shot to the forehand of Steffi Graf from back in the day and, more recently, the Serena Williams serve.
Gauff, who has been heaped with praise and expectations since she reached the fourth round at Wimbledon as a qualifier in 2019 as a 15-year-old, was visibly upset after the loss, crying into her towel after the match was over and also becoming emotional in her post-match speech. However, reaching her first major final was a major accomplishment for the Delray Beach resident and filled her with belief that she can now break through and win a major singles title.
“Honestly, that I could do it,” said Gauff to NBC’s Taylor after the match when asked what she can take away from her performance. “For a while, I really believed that I couldn’t do it.”
Gauff won just as many games (four) in her first major singles final as one of her idols, Venus Williams, did in her first major final at the 1997 U.S. Open when at age 17, she lost to Martina Hingis 6-4, 6-0.
