How Swiatek's first year at No.1 stacks up against the greats

In the 50-year history of the Hologic WTA Tour, few women have engineered an inaugural run as World No.1 like Iga Swiatek. As she embarks on her 54th consecutive week as the No.1 player in the world, we look back on the 21-year-old Polish star's remarkable first year atop the rankings.

How she got there: At 19 years old, Swiatek became Poland's first Grand Slam champion after her stunning run to the 2020 Roland Garros title. Ranked No.54, she did not come close to losing a set during the fortnight, becoming Paris' first teenage champion in 23 years. She lost just 28 games, tied for the second-fewest games lost to win the French Open -- only one opponent was able to avoid a 6-1 set.

How dominant was Swiatek's 2020 Roland Garros run?

Swiatek would make her Top 10 debut the following year in 2021, reaching a career-high No.4 but began her 2022 campaign at No.9. Already acknowledged as one of the tour's best on clay, Swiatek shot out of the gates immediately, making her first hard-court Slam semifinal at the Australian Open.

The moment she became No.1: In February of 2022, Swiatek began what would become a historic 37-match winning streak through the remainder of the spring hard courts and clay season. Ranked No.8 in Doha, Swiatek defeated a trio of Top 7 players to win her first WTA 1000 hard-court title. She followed it up with a gritty effort at Indian Wells. 

In a final that would determine who would leave California with the No.2 ranking, No.4 Swiatek defeated No.6 Maria Sakkari in the final to win back-to-back titles for the first time in her career and rise to a career-high No.2.

As she readied for her opening match against Viktorija Golubic in Miami the following week, reigning World No.1 Ashleigh Barty announced her sudden and immediate retirement from the sport. Swiatek had been the new World No.2 for just a handful of days before the prospect of rising to No.1 became tantalizingly close. A win over Golubic would assure her the No.1 ranking after Miami.

Swiatek responded by losing just two games, defeating the Swiss 6-2, 6-0. But she didn't stop there. Knowing that she was assured to become Poland's first World No.1 in two weeks, Swiatek decimated the field in Miami to win her third consecutive title. Swiatek tallied wins over Coco Gauff, Petra Kvitova, Jessica Pegula, and Naomi Osaka in the final, with only Pegula able to win more than six games.

From Slam champion to World No.1, the rise of Iga Swiatek

On Monday, April 4, 2022, 20-year-old Swiatek returned to Europe as the WTA Tour's 28th World No.1, the youngest No.1 debut since Caroline Wozniacki in 2010. She has held the top spot ever since. 

By the Numbers: Swiatek's first year at No.1

28: Swiatek became the 28th WTA World No.1, taking over from Ashleigh Barty. The Australian had held the No.1 ranking for 114 consecutive weeks, the fourth-longest streak in WTA Tour history.

12: Only 12 of the 28 women to ascend to WTA World No.1 have been able to hold the top spot for at least 52 cumulative weeks.

Cumulative Weeks at No.1

Stefanie Graf - 377
Martina Navratilova - 332
Serena Williams - 319
Chris Evert - 260
Martina Hingis - 209
Monica Seles - 178
Ashleigh Barty - 121
Justine Henin - 117
Lindsay Davenport - 98
Caroline Wozniacki - 71
Simona Halep - 64
Iga Swiatek - 54*

* Ongoing, includes Week of April 10, 2023.

9: Only nine women have been able to hold the top spot for 52 consecutive weeks.

Consecutive Weeks at No.1

Stefanie Graf - 186, 94, 87
Serena Williams - 186, 57
Martina Navratilova - 156, 90
Ashleigh Barty - 114
Chris Evert - 113, 76
Monica Seles - 91, 64
Martina Hingis - 80, 73
Justine Henin - 61
Iga Swiatek - 54*

* Ongoing, includes Week of April 10, 2023.

3: Only three women have held the No.1 ranking for more consecutive weeks than Swiatek in their first stint at No.1: Stefanie Graf (186), Martina Hingis (80) and Serena Williams (57).

8: Number of finals Swiatek made during her first 52 weeks at No.1. She played 15 tournaments over that span, making the final in over 50% of her appearances.

6: Number of consecutive tournament wins Swiatek posted during her 37-match win streak, winning Doha, Indian Wells, Miami, Stuttgart, Rome and Roland Garros. Her six consecutive wins are tied with Venus Williams and Justine Henin for the longest title streak in the 2000s. 

3: Number of players in the Open Era to have gone undefeated in multiple Grand Slam finals before the age of 22. After winning the French Open twice and US Open to bring her tally to three major titles, Swiatek joined the exclusive club along with Tracy Austin and Naomi Osaka. With a 3-0 record, Swiatek has the most wins of the three before age 22.

55: Number of wins by Swiatek during her first 52 weeks as the World No.1.

Most Match Wins as World No.1 - Since 2000

Serena Williams - 298 
Justine Henin - 99  
Ashleigh Barty - 78  
Victoria Azarenka - 66  
Caroline Wozniacki - 66  
Martina Hingis - 60 
Iga Swiatek - 55 

0: Number of women who have won more than 37 consecutive matches in the 2000s. Swiatek's run matched Hingis' 37 consecutive wins in 1997. The last player to string together more than 37 wins was Stefanie Graf, who won 66 across 1989 and 1990.

2: Number of men who have won more than 37 consecutive matches in the 2000s -- Novak Djokovic (43) and Roger Federer (42).

Ode to Iga Swiatek's 135-day, 37-match unbeaten streak

20: With her second title run at Roland Garros in 2022, Swiatek became the youngest woman to win 20 matches in Paris since Martina Hingis in 1999. 

12: Swiatek is one of only 12 players in the Open Era to have a win percentage of 80% or over in Grand Slam matches before the age of 22.

31: Since the start of 2022, Swiatek has won 31 WTA-1000 matches. No player has won more matches than her during this time.

4: Swiatek became World No.1 for the first time after sweeping Indian Wells and Miami to become the fourth woman to complete the Sunshine Double. At 20 years and 306 days, Swiatek remains the youngest woman to ever complete the feat. 

1: Swiatek finished the 2022 season at No.1 with 11,085 points, more than 6,000 points ahead of No.2 Ons Jabeur. Serena Williams is the only player to ever accumulate a higher year-end ranking total, having earned 13,260 points during her remarkable 2013 campaign. In fact, only four players have ever broken the 10,000 point threshold, with Victoria Azarenka (10,595) and Maria Sharapova (10,045) doing so in 2012. 

5: Swiatek earned $9,875,525 in prize money in 2022, putting her at No.5 on the all-time list of single-season prize money leaders.

Top 5 Single-Season Prize Money Leaders

1. Serena Williams: $12,385,572 (2013)
2. Ashleigh Barty: $11,307,587 (2019)
3. Serena Williams: $10,582,642 (2015)
4. Angelique Kerber: $10,136,615 (2016)
5. Iga Swiatek: $9,875,525 (2022)