Iga Swiatek had an incredible 2022 season and while this year's season might look worse it really wasn't and the numbers prove it.
Last year was one of the most dominant tennis seasons we've seen by a player as Swiatek dominated all across the board. She became number one early last year and held it for the rest of the year without any issues.
She finished last year with two Grand Slam trophies in her bag; 67 wins and only nine losses. That's some pretty amazing stats so when you compare it to this year and her 68- 11 record you might even say that she improved.
However, there are also numbers speaking against her. For example, if you say that she only won one Grand Slam trophy compared to last year's two. When you say that she only won 6 trophies this year compared to 8 last year then you pretty much have a bulletproof argument, right? But do you?
Not quite, because it comes down to how you look at it; so let's provide some context. The reason why this season is equally incredible is because her competition this year was miles ahead of the competition last year.
Aryna Sabalenka had a 33-24 record last year, but this year finished with 50-14. Elena Rybakina improved her record and won more trophies than last year. Coco Gauff improved from 38-23 last year to 51-16 this year. Jessica Pegula went 59-18 this year, and those are only some of her closest competitors.
She didn't regress this year as much as her opposition simply became much better, and they did become better. Jessica Pegula just played a historic WTA Finals but still got smashed 6-1 6-0 in the final by Swiatek, who finishes the year with 24 bagel sets, a better mark than last year.
She's also back to being number one, the deserved number one when we look at all things. So, while the season might not have been as impressive as last year, in some ways, it was even more impressive when you add context. So, let's finish with some words from Swiatek herself.
The 2022 season was so great that I didn’t know if it would be possible for me to repeat such a year. In the end, I didn’t feel like I was in the shadow of last year because I knew I was having another great season.
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