Iga Swiatek Becomes Ninth Woman To Reach 100 Weeks As World No. 1

Monday, 22 April 2024 at 21:45

byNurein Ahmed

It is a landmark day for Iga Swiatek, who begins a 100th week as World No. 1 - a feat that very few women have attained in tennis history.

Swiatek's two-year, 10-match undefeated streak at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix ended this past week when she lost to eventual champion Elena Rybakina, but it did not loosen her grip on the world No. 1 ranking.

Since the WTA rankings were first published in 1975, Swiatek has become just the ninth woman to clock 100 weeks at the top. Very recently, she surpassed Lindsay Davenport in the Top 10.

And now, the Polish star joins an exclusive club featuring iconic names like Steffi Graf (377), Martina Navratilova (332), Serena Williams (319) and Chris Evert (260).

She is also not far off from overtaking both Ashleigh Barty (121) and Justine Henin (117), who currently occupy seventh and eighth spots, respectively, in the all-time list.

Swiatek's dominance at a very young age also doesn't quite get enough traction. She is also the fifth-youngest woman (at 22 years and 10 months) behind Graf, Evert, Monica Seles, and Martina Hingis to achieve this monumental milestone.

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Since rising to the summit of women's tennis in April 2022 following Barty's shock retirement, no WTA player has more titles and Grand Slams than the 22-year-old.

The Warsaw native topped the prize money charts in 2022 and 2023 and has won three of the last four French Opens. She was only knocked off the top spot once, back in September 2023.

But that was only for a brief period in a season when Aryna Sabalenka caught fire. Swiatek regained her position with a scintillating run last autumn, with titles in Beijing and the WTA Finals in Cancun.

With plenty of points to defend in this year's clay swing, Swiatek is unfazed by the pressure and determined to bounce back from her first defeat in Stuttgart.