Iga Świątek is unquestionably the best female tennis player on the planet. She just finished another impressive season in the best way possible by outplaying her rivals at the ATP Finals in Mexico and retaking the throne of world number 1.

Although her 2023 campaign was statistically less dominant than her 2022 season, she still won six titles. Her first triumph took place at the Qatar Ladies Open, where she did not lose a single set along the way,  and dropping merely five games throughout the tournament.

At the beginning of the clay season, she defended her title in Stuttgart Open before winning a fourth Grand Slam at the French Open. Her loss in the quarter-finals in Wimbledon put an end to her 14-match win streak, but consolidated herself soon after by winning the Poland Open back home in Warsaw.

Jelena Ostapenko upset the Pole already in the fourth round of the US Open, which led Iga to lose the throne of world number 1 to Belorussia’s Aryna Sabalenka. It is worth underlying that her 75-week reign at number 1 is the third-longest streak among players in their first stint since the start of the Open Era (the era of modern tennis which started in 1968 – editor’s note). The young Varsovian than went on to lift the trophy at the China Open.

She then concluded the year most impressively by triumphing at the ATP Finals without losing a set, becoming the first player to achieve this since Serena Williams in 2012. She also broke the record of the fewest games lost (20) dropped during this prestigious tournament since the organisers reintroduced the round-robin format 20 years ago.

More importantly, this last title allowed her to reclaim the spot of world number 1 and secure it at least until January.

Image: X (@isigaswiatekno1)

Author: Sébastien Meuwissen