Iga Swiatek dominated women's tennis in 2022, but the Pole revealed that one of the most critical moments of her season was not one of the titles she won.
Swiatek could have chosen any of the seven titles she secured this year as a pivotal achievement. Six of these came during an extraordinary 37-match winning streak that began at the Qatar Open in February and ended after she was defeated by Alize Cornet in the third round of Wimbledon in July.
The 21-year-old then won her third Grand Slam and first outside of the clay courts of the French Open at the US Open. Swiatek overcame fan favorite Ons Jabeur after holding her nerve better during the second-set tiebreak.
Those outstanding achievements in 2022 mean Swiatek is widely expected to win the 2022 WTA Player of the Year. Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula are among the other nominees, but their achievements this year do not match Swiatek's.
The WTA world No. 1 was considered a clay court specialist before this season, but her titles at the Qatar Open, Indian Wells Open, Miami Open, and the US Open have ended any illusions about the Pole only being able to compete on clay.
In an interview with Life & Leisure, Swiatek said that reaching the Australian Open semifinal was pivotal because it made her believe that she could challenge for Grand Slams on hard courts.
“Making it to the semifinal of this Grand Slam (Australian Open) was extraordinary because for me, it was the first time I actually believed that I could win grand slams on hardcourts."
“Before that, I thought of myself as more of a claycourt player, so the Australian Open was a big test for me and I feel like I passed it. So I took a lot of confidence from the tournament. It showed me that I’m really going in the right direction."