When Serena Williams retired from tennis in 2022, the sport had a vacuum to replace its most iconic player. Not only was Williams the most outstanding athlete in her sport, but she has a legitimate argument as the best athlete of all time, with 23 major championships, the most in the Open Era. Her dominance spanned nearly two full decades, meaning that women’s tennis has yet to search for the face of the sport since the mid-2000s. Various players have emerged as potential dominating figures in the sport, with Iga Swiatek being one of them. Let’s look at Swiatek’s career arc and what we can expect from her.
Who Is Iga Swiatek?
Born on May 31, 2001, in Warsaw, Poland, Swiatek comes from a family of athletes. Her father was a rower who competed in the 1998 Seoul Olympics in the men’s quadruple sculls event. He desired that his daughters would become competitive athletes, but he wanted them to be individual sports athletes rather than team sports athletes like himself. Swiatek took up tennis after her sister did and began training at Mera Warsaw at 14.
It’s easy to forget how long Serena dominated the sport. Fans were taking her odds while betting on US Open matches when Swiatek had not even been born. Serena won her first US Open in 1999, two years before Swiatek was born. Williams was busy winning the Australian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon when she began training in Mera Warsaw. However, once Swiatek appeared on the scene, it became apparent quickly that she was an exceptional athlete, especially as she moved to Legia Warsaw.
Early Career
In 2015, Swiatek began competing in the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Junior Circuit, quickly moving up the ranks.
At 13, she won back-to-back low-level Grade 4 titles, and before the end of the year, she had already moved to Grade 2 events. She made her junior Grand Slam debut at the 2016 French Open, reaching the quarterfinals. She then moved up to Grade 1 events and defeated future professional Olga Danilovic in the final of the Canadian Open Junior Championship.
She joined the professional ranks in 2016, competing on the ITF Women’s Circuit. She dominated the ITF Women’s Circuit early, winning all seven ITF finals she reached through 2018.
Professional Breakthrough
In 2019, Swiatek moved into the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and ran into a fire. Despite having not played a single WTA event before 2019, the then-17-year-old didn’t play a single ITF event in 2019 and qualified for the Australian Open. However, she made a name at the Ladies Open Lugano, upsetting #3-seeded Viktoria Kuzmova in the second round. It was her first top-50 win and began to move her up the ranks. By 2019, it was only a matter of time before she won her first major.
She reached the top 100 before turning 18 and nearly reached the quarterfinals in her second Major tournament appearance. In 2020, she finally broke through. The French Open, usually in late May and early June, was rescheduled to late September due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
While only ranked #54, Swiatek shocked the world by winning her first Major championship, becoming the lowest-ranked player to win a title in the ranked era, which began in 1975. At 19 years and four months, she became the youngest woman since Monica Seles to win the French Open.
Emergence as One of the Top Female Tennis Players in the World
The following year, she was the 15th seed in the Australian Open and entered the top 10 for the first time after winning the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
It wasn’t until 2022 that she emerged as arguably the best player in the world. After reaching the semifinals at the Australian Open, Swiatek won six consecutive tournaments, including her second major title at the 2022 French Open. The streak included a 37-match winning streak, the longest of the 21st century. She went on to win the US Open, finishing the year as the world’s top-ranked player.
She continued her dominance into 2023, winning a third French Open title. As of 2024, she remains the top player in the rankings, achieving her 100th WTA 1000 win. She is the odds-on favorite to win her 3rd consecutive French Open championship as the top overall seed and is the clear best player in the world.
What Is Next for Swiatek?
As noted, Swiatek is the heavy favorite at May’s French Open. However, after a disappointing quarter final finish last year, she is still searching for her first-ever Wimbledon championship. While Swiatek is far from dominating the sport as Williams did, she already has four Grand Slam titles at 22 years old and is already 10th all-time in prize winnings. She has been the top-ranked player since April 2022, and nothing suggests she’ll be losing that spot soon.
