Swiatek signs off on 2023: 'I saw, did and learned so much'

Iga Swiatek is summing up her 2023 season with one word: gratitude. The World No.1 bid adieu to 2023 with a heartfelt Instagram post on Tuesday, where she thanked her team, her supporters and her peers on the Hologic WTA Tour. 

Swiatek won six Hologic WTA Tour titles this year, including her fourth Grand Slam title at Roland Garros, and capped the year by storming through the field at the WTA Finals, where she didn't lose a set and surrendered just 20 games in five matches -- finishing with a 6-1, 6-0 routing of Jessica Pegula in the championship.

The win over Pegula secured her the year-end No. 1 ranking for a second time, and Swiatek kicked off her post with a word of appreciation to those who helped her return to the top of the mountain. She had earlier surrendered the top spot to Aryna Sabalenka after the US Open, having previously been at the top for 75 consecutive weeks. 

"What a season that was," she reflected. "I saw, did and learned so much. Before I’ll start my much needed vacation, I would like to leave here some words of appreciation, gratitude and some thoughts.

"I would like to thank my team. I wouldn’t be in this place without you. I want to thank everyone who supports me every day through the ups and downs of every season."

But Swiatek's gratitude also extended to her peers on the Hologic WTA Tour, to whom she penned a special note. 

"Last but not least … I want to thank the amazing women I compete with on tour," she wrote. "Thanks to you, I constantly want to be a better player. Every one of us has our own story and we can tell those stories together through our sport. I’m grateful for you and for this opportunity.

"The best things happen to us when ... we stop chasing them."

Swiatek joins Simona Halep and Caroline Wozniacki as players to have two year-end No. 1 finishes, and is the 12th player in the history of the WTA rankings since 1975 to do it more than once.