World No.1 Iga Swiatek's 37-match win streak came to an end Saturday in the third round at Wimbledon, capping off a remarkable run for the 21-year-old Polish star.
Swiatek had not lost a match since winning her first title of the season at the Qatar Total Open in February. Over that span, she won six consecutive titles, including Indian Wells and Miami where she became the youngest woman to complete the Sunshine Double.
The streak continued through her favorite surface, clay, where she won Stuttgart, Rome and her second major title at Roland Garros. And in the midst of it all, she handled her sudden ascension to World No.1 with unprecedented poise.
Swiatek's hot hand finally cooled on the grass at Wimbledon, where Alizé Cornet snapped the streak in the third round, winning 6-4, 6-2. It was a deja vu moment for the 32-year-old Frenchwoman. Her last complete match-win over a reigning No.1 came in the third round at Wimbledon in 2014, also on No.1 Court, where she defeated Serena Williams.
Congrats @iga_swiatek for being such an amazing leader. Very honored to share the court with you today 🙌 pic.twitter.com/sLDsu5eaxD
— Alize Cornet (@alizecornet) July 2, 2022
Swiatek takes the loss in stride: "Usually I am hard on myself. Here, I know how I felt before matches, I know how I felt when I was practicing. Let's just say that I didn't feel like I'm in a best shape. So I'm kind of aware that this could happen. Maybe it's not the right attitude to have, but it is like it is.
"I tried many things to feel better on court, on grass court, but it didn't really work out. That's why I'm not even hard on myself because, like, it's kind of logic that if I couldn't find it even on practices, I'm not going to find it on a match."
135 - Iga #Swiatek stayed unbeaten for 135 days, winning 37 matches in a row (equalling the longest winning streak since 1990) and 6 consecutive titles (Doha, Indian Wells, Miami, Stuttgart, Rome and Roland Garros). Dream.@WTA @WTA_insider #Wimbledon2022 pic.twitter.com/DunbHtlcIX
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) July 2, 2022
Next up for Swiatek: The World No.1 admitted she still needs to time to process the significance and impact of her six-title winning streak, so rest and relaxation will certainly be on the menu. But her next appearance on court will be an exciting one. Swiatek announced during the first week of Wimbledon that she and her team have organized a charity exhibition in Krakow, which will feature Agnieszka Radwanska and Elina Svitolina.
Swiatek, Radwanska, Svitolina to play charity exhibition for Ukraine relief
"When we were in States we thought that maybe this would be a nice thing to do," Swiatek said. "It's really exciting because I feel like we don't have enough events like that in Poland. I really want to show people tennis from a different perspective. I hope it's going to be fun."
The Swiatek Streak in numbers
Doha: The streak begins
Champions Corner: How Swiatek solved the puzzle in Doha
1: Number of wins by Swiatek over a Top 10 player on hard court before Doha.
3: Top 10 players Swiatek defeated en route to her first title of the season in Doha. The win is the second WTA 1000 title of her career.
0: Wins for Swiatek against Maria Sakkari (0-3) and Aryna Sabalenka (0-1) going into Doha. After beating them in back-to-back matches in Doha, she has not lost to either player since.
1: Set lost by Swiatek in Doha, which came to Viktorija Golubic in the first round.
2: Games lost in the final against Anett Kontaveit.
Indian Wells: The streak solidifies, moving to 11
Champions Corner: Swiatek's 'surreal' Indian Wells
20: Wins for Swiatek in 2022 after defeating Maria Sakkari 6-4, 6-1 in the final, the most on tour.
2: Swiatek's new career-high ranking after winning her second-straight WTA 1000 title.
3: Comebacks from a set down for Swiatek in Indian Wells, doing so to beat Anhelina Kalinina, Clara Tauson and Angelique Kerber in her first three matches. She has had seven such comebacks in 2022. Prior to this season, she had just eight in her career.
11: Consecutive wins for Swiatek, tying then No.1 Ashleigh Barty for the longest winning streak of the season.
Miami: The streak moves to 17 after a history-making Sunshine Double win
Champions Corner: The mindset that paved the way to the Sunshine Double
1: Swiatek became the first player to ever win the first three WTA 1000 events of a season.
4: Women who have completed the Sunshine Double by winning Indian Wells and Miami back-to-back in a single season: Stefanie Graf, Kim Clijsters, Victoria Azarenka and Swiatek.
1 - Iga #Swiatek is the youngest player ever to win the Miami Open and Indian Wells in the same year. Sunshine.#MiamiOpen2022 #SunshineDouble @WTA @WTA_insider pic.twitter.com/YWograO5E8
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) April 2, 2022
0: Sets dropped by Swiatek en route to the Miami title.
1: Swiatek's ranking after Miami, taking over from Ashleigh Barty after the Australian's sudden retirement.
Billie Jean King Cup: Swiatek makes it 19 straight after domination at home
2: Matches played by Swiatek.
3: Bagel sets dished out by Swiatek in her two matches.
1: Game lost over the weekend, leading Poland to a 4-0 win over Romania.
Stuttgart: The streak moves to 23 after a fourth consecutive title
Champions Corner: Swiatek talks cars, cats, and memes after Stuttgart win
26: Consecutive sets Swiatek had won before losing the first set to Liudmila Samsonova in the semifinals. It was the only set Swiatek dropped in her Stuttgart debut.
30: Match-wins for Swiatek after defeating Aryna Sabalenka 6-2, 6-2 in the final.
23: Consecutive wins for Swiatek after securing the Stuttgart title, tying Naomi Osaka's 23-match streak that was built across the 2020 and 2021 seasons.
Rome: After skipping Madrid, Swiatek extends the streak to 28
Champions Corner: 'Gilmore Girls', tiramisu, and well-deserved downtime for Swiatek
21: Games lost by Swiatek in Rome, her fifth consecutive title, the fewest number of games lost since Serena Williams dropped 14 in 2013. It is the fewest number of games lost en route to a title this season.
3: Swiatek is the third-youngest player to win two titles in Rome. 20-years-old at the time, she is older than only Chris Evert and Gabriela Sabatini.
1: First successful title defense for Swiatek, who won her first WTA 1000 title in Rome in 2021.
2: Players to win four or more WTA 1000 titles in the same season. Swiatek joined Serena Williams, who won five in 2013.
8: Players who have won five or more WTA 1000 titles (since 2009). Swiatek, who has now won five, joined the list that includes Caroline Wozniacki, Victoria Azarenka, Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, Petra Kvitova, Simona Halep and Agnieszka Radwanska.
6: Years since a player has won a fifth WTA 1000 title. Agnieszka Radwanska won her fifth and final WTA 1000 at 2016 Beijing.
Roland Garros: Swiatek matches Venus Williams' 2000 mark to win her second major
Champions Corner: Swiatek searching for new goals after French Open win
35: Consecutive wins for Swiatek after winning seven matches to capture her second Roland Garros title, matching Venus Williams' 35-match win streak in 2000.
6 - Iga #Swiatek has equalled the record of consecutive tournaments won in the 2000s (Doha, Indian Wells, Miami, Stuttgart, Rome and Roland Garros) after Venus Williams in 2000 and Justine Henin in 2007-2008. Musketeers.@WTA @WTA_insider pic.twitter.com/4ZG4E3p8pC
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) June 4, 2022
1: Set lost by Swiatek en route to the title. The only player to take a set off her during the fortnight was Chinese teenager Zheng Qinwen.
3: Number of players younger than Swiatek to win their second title at Roland Garros: Monica Seles, Stefanie Graf, and Chris Evert.
2: Number of players who have a higher winning percentage than Swiatek at Roland Garros. Swiatek's 91.3% winning percentage is bested only by Margaret Court (95.2%) and Chris Evert (92.3%).
2013: The last time a player made six or more finals in the first six months of the year. Serena Williams made seven in 2013.
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— wta (@WTA) June 4, 2022
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┻┳| •.•) only djokovic and federer have
┳┻|⊂ノ won more consecutive matches
┻┳| than swiatek this century
Wimbledon: Swiatek matches Hingis' 1997 run before streak ends at 37 wins.
11: Years since a player younger than Swiatek was the top seed at Wimbledon (Caroline Wozniacki, 2011).
3: Surfaces Swiatek won on during her four-month streak. With her first-round win over Jana Fett, Swiatek's streak officially spanned hard courts, clay courts and grass courts.
17: Number of 6-0 sets tallied by Swiatek in 2022. She notched her 17th against Croatian qualifier Jana Fett in the first round.
17 - Since 2000, only #SerenaWilliams in 2013 (25) and Kim Clijsters in 2003 (18) have won more sets with a 6-0 scoreline than Iga Swiatek in 2022 (17) in a single season. Welcome back.@WTA @WTA_insider @Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/nyEPYlzQPk
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) June 28, 2022
37: Consecutive wins for Martina Hingis in her 1997 campaign. Swiatek matched the mark by winning her second-round match over Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove. This is the longest win streak since Stefanie Graf won 66 consecutive matches across 1989 and 1990.
135: Days that Swiatek remained unbeaten. Her 37-match streak finally ended at the hands of France's Alizé Cornet, 6-4, 6-2 in the third round.
44: Wins for Swiatek as she leaves Wimbledon, posting a tour-leading 44-3 record through the first seven months of the season.
🍓🌿 @Wimbledon #proud #workinprogress pic.twitter.com/q4TIejj570
— Iga Świątek (@iga_swiatek) July 3, 2022