It’s sometimes difficult to appreciate Iga Swiatek in real time.
She’s been No.1 in the PIF WTA Rankings for all but eight weeks of the past two-and-a-half years and is already a five-time Grand Slam champion. But in 2024 her excellence was revealed in the Hologic WTA Tour 1000 events.
When Swiatek defeated Aryna Sabalenka in the Internazionali BNL d’Italia final, it was her fourth WTA 1000 title in five months, to go with Doha, Indian Wells and Madrid.
“I kind of knew that if I’m going to work hard and if I’m going to be in the right mindset, this is achievable,” Swiatek said afterward. “I’m happy I was so focused and disciplined throughout the tournament to do that.”
2024 WTA 1000 champions
- Qatar Open: Iga Swiatek
- Dubai Championships: Jasmine Paolini
- Indian Wells: Iga Swiatek
- Miami Open: Danielle Collins
- Madrid Open: Iga Swiatek
- Internazionali BNL d'Italia: Iga Swiatek
- National Bank Open: Jessica Pegula
- Cincinnati Open: Aryna Sabalenka
- China Open: Coco Gauff
- Wuhan Open: Aryna Sabalenka
In this 16th year of these super-charged events, Swiatek became only the third player to win 10 career WTA 1000 titles. As a public service, here’s some mind-bending context: While Serena Williams achieved that milestone at the age of 32 and Victoria Azarenka at 31-- Swiatek was still 22.
Those four titles were double that of the next-best total (Sabalenka). And it’s worth noting that in a year when there were a record 10 WTA 1000s contested, Swiatek didn’t play three of the final four.
There were six different winners of WTA 1000 titles this year and six additional players reached the finals.
With Sabalenka’s victory over Zheng Qinwen at the Dongfeng Voyah · Wuhan Open, the WTA 1000 season is now complete. What better time to celebrate some of the notable stats that came across the Middle East, North America, Europe and China?
Who hit the most winners?
If ever a statistic captured a player’s personality, this is it.
Sabalenka fired 1,034 winners in WTA 1000 events, far ahead of Coco Gauff (693), Swiatek (636) and Elena Rybakina (611).
“I know that I have to go for it, I have to swing,” Sabalenka told reporters after winning the US Open. “That’s the only way it works for me.”
Sabalenka topped the list from both the forehand (551) and backhand (336) sides; Swiatek (340, 240) was second.
The legend that is Jelena Ostapenko was credited with an astounding 72 winners in a third-round match against Sara Sorribes Tormo in Rome.
Sofia Kenin and Marie Bouzkova combined for 88 in a match in Doha.
Which players scored the most Top 10 victories?
Not surprisingly, Sabalenka and Swiatek led this category with six each. But look who was third -- Anna Kalinskaya, with four.
In a memorable span back in February, the 25-year-old did it three times in three matches after qualifying in Dubai. First it was No.9 Ostapenko in the Round of 16, followed by No.3 Gauff and No.1 Swiatek in the semifinals. Kalinskaya wound up losing to Jasmine Paolini in the final but saw her ranking move up 15 spots to No.25.
She’s now at a career-high No.12.
What was the biggest upset?
Based solely on ranking differential, Naomi Osaka and Angelique Kerber scored the biggest upsets this year, twice each. But they are both multi-Grand Slam singles champions.
Here’s a shoutout to Zhang Shuai, who was ranked No.595 when she stunned No.8 Emma Navarro in straight sets recently in Beijing. Two days earlier, Zhang ended a 24-match losing streak.
Who had the highest winning percentage?
Based on virtually every important WTA 1000 metric, it’s Swiatek. In the bottom-line category of winning percentage, it really wasn’t close.
Swiatek won 30 of 33 matches, which works out to 90.9 percent. Only Serena Williams posted more WTA 1000 match-wins in a single season (36 in 2013) since the format was introduced in 2009. Those three losses came in the semifinals of Dubai (Kalinina), the fourth round in Miami (Ekaterina Alexandrova) and the semifinals in Cincinnati (Sabalenka). Swiatek did not play the two WTA 1000s in China after splitting with coach Tomasz Wiktorowski.
Danielle Collins (17-4, 81 percent), Sabalenka (28-7, 80 percent) were next in line. Yuliia Starodubtseva, who qualified in Beijing for her only WTA 1000 main draw, was 4-1, 80 percent). After losing in qualifying in Doha and Dubai, Yulia Putintseva came back to go 17-7 (70.8 percent), reaching back-to-back quarterfinals in Miami and Madrid.
Who were the oldest and youngest champions?
That would be sometime doubles partners, Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff.
Pegula, who turned 30 in February, went with a new coaching team -- Mark Knowles and Mark Merklein and, after injuries, rallied to win the National Bank Open in Toronto. Gauff, 20, won the China Open, defeating Karolina Muchova in the final.
Which players recorded the most comeback wins?
Sabalenka posted seven wins from a set down, the last two coming in Wuhan, when she dropped the first set 6-1 to both Putintseva and Gauff.
It was a three-way tie for second, with Zheng, Gauff and 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva logging five comebacks. Wang Xinyu, Leylah Fernandez and Jaqueline Cristian each had four.
Who led the pack in aces?
This was a hotly contested category, with Sabalenka (147 aces) coming in just ahead of Zheng (143) and Rybakina (141). Perhaps more impressive? Rybakina did that by playing in only half of the WTA 1000s.
Rybakina played 20 matches, averaging 7.05 aces per match, compared to 4.2 for Sabalenka. Rybakina hit 20 aces in a losing effort to Fernandez in Cincinnati, the season’s highest total.
What was the longest match?
There’s something about Sorribes Tormo … and marathon matches.
Sara Sorribes Tormo was up 5-1 in the third set of her first-round match against wild card Gao Xinyu at the China Open. Easy peasy, right? Not so much. Sorribes Tormo ultimately won 6-7(4), 7-5, 7-5 in a match that ran 4 hours, 15 minutes and (to be exact) 51 seconds. It was the fourth longest match of the Open Era.
Who excelled in first-serve points won?
You’d expect to see Zheng (75.6 percent), Rybakina (73.5) and Osaka (73.5) atop this list, but how about this? No.76-ranked Alycia Parks (74.5) and No.143 Maria Timofeeva (73.8) found themselves among those terrific players.
