Iga Swiatek's extraordinary form so far in 2022 has led to her achieving a feat not seen in women's tennis since Serena Williams was the world No. 1 back in 2014.
The Pole's domination of the women's game has stunned most of the tennis world. Swiatek's last defeat was in February in Dubai against Jelena Ostapenko. Since that loss, she has won an incredible 35 matches in a row.
Her 35 match victories have come at six different tournaments: the Doha Open, Indian Wells Open, Miami Open, Stuttgart Open, Italian Open, and French Open. Her dominance since February is utterly staggering.
Extending that record much further will be challenging. Swiatek's least favourite surface by far is grass. She will need to claim the title at Wimbledon to continue her winning streak, which the 21-year-old does not seem confident about herself.
However, Swiatek's control of the women's game since February means nothing can be ruled out. Her most recent milestone has demonstrated the scale of her superiority in recent months.
For the first time since 2014, the WTA No. 1 has more points than the ATP No. 1. On January 13th, 2014, Serena Williams was number one on the WTA rankings with 13260 points, while Rafael Nadal was ATP number one with 13130 points.
Swiatek currently has 8631 points to her name. ATP No. 1 Daniil Medvedev, who reached the quarterfinal at Roland-Garros, has 7950 points. Therefore, for the first time in over eight years, the women's No. 1 reigns supreme regarding the number of points.
There is no doubt that Swiatek will remain focused on winning more titles and that ranking points are not her primary concern. However, this new feat encapsulates how good her season has been so far. It will be fascinating to observe whether she can continue those standards.
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