In the world of women's tennis, some might say Iga isn't a worthy number 1, maybe because
she entered the top spot by default without a big showdown.
But regardless, we can't deny that she is an amazing player.
Winning the grand slam at the tender age of 19 is such an amazing feat.
Her French Open victory in 2020 marked the start of an era in her career that has only
seen the youngster flourish.
But how did it all start from Iga?
How did she attain such a feat at a very young age?
Let's find out!
HOW IT STARTED Iga was born in 2001 to an Olympic athlete
and orthodontist mother.
Iga's father wanted her and her sister to become competitive athletes, so they were
pushed into a path to sporting success.
Iga pursued professional tennis while her sister followed her mom's footsteps into dentistry.
When she was a junior, Iga attained a career-high ranking of number 5 and started playing in
ITF Junior events in 2015.
She also won several low-level Grade 4 titles at the age of 13.
Before the end of 2015, Iga moved up to grade 2 events and finished as a runner-up in singles
and doubles at the Czech Junior Open.
In 2016, she made it to the quarterfinals in her first Junior grand slam appearance
at the French Open.
Iga went on to win the Grade 1 Canadian Open Junior Championships by beating Olga Danilovic
in the final.
In 2017, she won singles and doubles titles at the Grade 1 Traralgon Junior international.
She also reached her first Grade A singles final at the Trofeo Bonfiglio but lost to
Elena Rybakina.
Iga ended her junior season after making it to the quarterfinal at the French Open.
She then had a right ankle surgery that kept her out for seven months.
Although she played in two grand slam tournaments in 2018 and three singles events in total,
Iga ended her junior career with her finest season.
She would later return to the junior tour at the French Open after a one-year absence,
making it into the semifinals in the singles event but losing to Caty McNally.
Iga did have better luck in the doubles events by partnering with McNally to win her first
Junior Grand Slam title.
She also won her first junior grand slam single at Wimbledon.
In the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics, She teamed up with Slovenian Kaia Juvan to compete, and
they eventually ended up as champions.
What a strong start to the start of her career.
HER PROFESSIONAL CAREER In 2016, Iga made her debut in the ITF women's
circuit, where she won her first ITF title in the singles event.
Since turning pro in 2016, she has won 8 WTA titles and one grand slam.
Her first 3 titles came when she was just 15 years old.
Her fourth title came in February 2018, after returning from a seven-month injury break.
She won her first junior grand slam title in the doubles at the French Open with partner
Caty McNally.
She made a remarkable feat in 2018 after she moved from 298 on the rankings to number 180
in two weeks.
BREAKING INTO THE TOP 50 Iga entered the world's top 50 within months
of turning 18 after winning her first WTA event and making it to the fourth round of
the French Open.
Although Iga never played on the WTA Tour prior to 2019, she was only able to compete
in Tour-level events throughout the year.
After failing to qualify at the Auckland Open, she qualified for her first WTA main draw
at the Australian Open, beating world number 82 Ana Bogdan in three sets in her first match
to advance to the second round.
In her next three tournaments, Iga was able to qualify at the Hungarian Ladies Open but
at none of the Premier Mandatory events in March.
Iga then had her first WTA breakthrough at the Ladies Open Lugano in April.
She reached her first WTA Finals with her first straight entry into a peloton.
During the event, she upset world number 3 Viktória Kužmová in the second round for
her first top-50 win and eventually finished second to Polona Hercog in three sets.
Iga also made her debut in the top 100 by finishing runner-up at the age of 17.
She finished her clay-court season with a fourth-round appearance at the French Open
in her second major.
Iga defeated world number 16 Wang Qiang in the second round for her first top 20 wins
before losing to defending champion Simona Halep.
Additionally, a precise cross-court forehand drop shot that Iga hit in the semifinals against
Kristýna Plíšková was voted the 2019 WTA Shot of the Year.
Iga failed to repeat her French Open triumph in the remaining Grand Slam events of the
year; she also lost her first match at Wimbledon and in the second round at the US Open.
Iga's best result of the second half of the season was a third-round appearance at the
Canadian Open.
She defeated world number 18 Caroline Wozniacki in the tournament before losing to world number
2 Naomi Osaka.
The result enabled her to enter the top 50 for the first time in her career a week later.
Iga then missed the rest of the season after the US Open to have a foot operation and finished
2019 ranked 61st in the world.
THE TEEN SENSATION WINS THE FRENCH OPEN, MAKES TOP 20 DEBUT
Iga returned to the tour at the Australian Open.
She achieved her best result in a Grand Slam tournament with another fourth-round appearance;
this time, she defeated world Number 20 Donna Vekić.
She later defeated Vekic again at the Qatar Open, which was her last win before the tour
was closed due to the pandemic.
After the tour resumed, she participated in the newly scheduled French Open in September
and was ranked 54th in the world at the time.
Iga later went ahead to win the French Open.
During the tournament, she defeated 2019 runner-up and world Number 19 Markéta Vondroušová
in the opening round.
Her biggest surprise came in a fourth-round win over top seed and world number 2 Simona
Halep, who was on a 17-game winning streak and also a strong favorite to win the grand
slam.
Iga has lost three games against Halep after winning just one game against her in the same
round of the French Open the previous year.
So she triumphed over world Number 6 Sofia Kenin in the final with a 6-4, 6-1 win, becoming
the first Polish player to ever win a Grand Slam singles title and the lowest-ranked French
Open winner in the history of the WTA rankings.
Iga didn't concede a set and didn't lose more than five games in a match in the French capital
en route to her triumph.
It was an amazing feat for someone so young.
She also became the youngest singles champion of the tournament since Rafael Nadal in 2005
and the youngest women's singles champion since Monica Seles in 1992.
With the title secured, Iga rose to number 17 in the world.
The following year at the Australian Open, Iga positioned 15th and recorded wins over
Arantxa Rus, Camila Giorgi, and Fiona Ferro.
She got to the fourth round, where she lost to Simona Halep in three sets.
She later made up for the loss In Adelaide, when she earned her first WTA Tour title without
dropping a set in the entire tournament.
Seeded 15th, Iga earned her first WTA 1000 title of her career at the Italian Open, overthrowing
former champion Karolína Plíšková without losing games in just 46 minutes.
She made it into the final after beating two-time world champion and world Number 5 Elina Svitolina
and second-best teenager Coco Gauff on the same day and saving match points in her third-round
match against Barbora Krejčíková.
In 2021, she became the third player to win a title, alongside Naomi Osaka at the Australian
Open and Ashleigh Barty in Miami, after saving a match point.
She also became the fourth teenager to win a WTA 1000 event.
This successful run to her third career trophy propelled her into the top 10 in the singles
rankings on May 17, 2021, as world Number 9.
ONE OF THE BEST IN THE WORLD’ S FEMALE TENNIS Iga is now the third player, alongside Serena
Williams and Justine Henin, to win at least four WTA 1000 titles in a season after defeating
Ons Jabeur in the Rome final.
Serena has a record of 5 wins in 2013, while Justine won 4 WTA titles in 2003.
She could go on to break Serena’s record in August when another WTA 1000 event will
be held in Toronto and Cincinnati.
She has so far delivered from a lot of expectations.
Because in the world of tennis, one of the most important attributes of the profession
is always being the best, and tennis may just have found its new superstar in the 20-year-old.
Iga's journey from humble beginnings in Poland to global success in just a few years has
been amazing.
Now the pressure of staying at the top becomes real for Iga Swiatek.
Do you think she’ll last long as the world's number 1?
Comment below!