Iga Swiatek is the first Pole and the 28th woman ever to reach the top of the world rankings.
She is also the youngest player currently ranked in the top 10 and won her maiden
Grand Slam championship at the French Open in October 2020, when she was just 19 years old.
But aside from tennis, who's Iga Swiatek?
WHO IS IGA SWIATEK
Iga is a professional Polish tennis player; She was born in Warsaw, Poland,
in 2001. Before becoming a professional tennis player, Iga began her career as a swimmer.
She made her professional debut three years after briefly competing on the ITF junior
circuit in 2013 and won her first three titles when she was only 15 years old.
She won the 2018 French Open girls' doubles title with
Caty McNally and the 2018 Wimbledon girls' singles title as a junior.
Following her maiden WTA final and fourth-round participation at the 2019 French Open,
she broke into the top 50 at the age of 18.
Iga was the champion at the 2020 French Open and is the first Pole to win a Grand Slam singles
title. The title win made her the tournament's youngest singles champion since Rafael Nadal
in 2005 and the tournament's youngest women's singles champion since 2004.
Iga did not drop a set or lose more than five games in
any singles match throughout her run to the French Open title in 2020.
After winning the Italian Open in May 2021,
she broke into the top ten of the WTA rankings for the first time in her career.
Iga reached a career-high ranking of Number 2 on March 21, 2022, after winning back-to-back WTA
1000 titles in Qatar and Indian Wells in 2022. Following the retirement of world Number 1
Ashleigh Barty, she took over the top spot on April 4, 2022.
She also became the fourth woman to win the Sunshine Double after winning
another WTA 1000 championship in Miami.
The Pole prefers to play all around the court. With a drop shot from the baseline, she was named
WTA Fan Favorite Shot of the Year in 2019 and WTA Fan Favorite Singles Player of the Year in 2020.
Iga has come a long way to become world number 1 in female tennis, but
let's take a look at how it all started for her as a child.
PARENTS AND UPBRINGING Iga was born on May 31, 2001,
in Warsaw, Poland, to Dorota and Tomasz Swiatek. Tomasz,
her father, is a former professional rower who competed in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul
in the men's quadruple sculls event, while her mother, Dorota, is an orthodontist.
Tomasz, Iga's father, wanted his daughters Iga and
Agata to pursue careers as professional athletes. It was his preference that they
focus on individual sports rather than team sports to increase their chances of success.
Iga's father explained in an interview with "Super Express" why he wanted his daughters
in an individual sport. He said he had always adhered to the principle
that practicing sports does not have to interfere in life but can help instead.
He claims he wanted Iga and her sister to practice an individual sport so that they
could be responsible for their successes and failures and learn to cope with them.
Iga, who began her career at Mera Warsaw at the age of 14 before going
on to Legia Warsaw, previously revealed that her father was a lifelong tennis
lover who wished for her daughters to play the sport professionally one day.
In an interview back in 2019, Iga said, "My father always liked tennis,
and he wanted his daughters to play. It was his concept. My older sister was always playing.
She's three years my senior, and I've always admired her. When I was younger,
I used to compete with her and always lost, so it was incredibly motivating for me."
Her mother, on the other hand, works as an Orthodontist and graduated from the Faculty
of Dentistry, Warsaw Medical University. Dorota treats patients with the knowledge and experience
she has gained in the course of her practice. She treats the most complicated cases of malocclusion
and is an active participant in numerous orthodontics at home and abroad.
She is a member of different scientific societies and the author of many scientific Publications.
Dorita stays away from the media but always supports her daughter.
After her daughter's French Open triumph, she explained in an interview with "Super
"Express" that her approach to her daughter's sport has always been
"no matter what result you achieve, the most important thing is the style."
She also said that she wasn't afraid of the media's interest in her daughter.
She recalled in the same interview that "there is absolutely nothing wrong with egoism
itself. Sport is democratic because it shows how much you can achieve without wildcards
and with your own work and determination."
HER INTENSE LIFESTYLE AWAY FROM THE COURTS
Iga works extremely hard when it comes to working out and training.
She works out regularly with Maciej Ryszczuk, who is her physiotherapist.
Iga appears to take her health very seriously, both mentally and physically. She also has a
personal sports psychologist, Daria Abramowicz, who helps her to get better and achieve mental
stability, and obviously, it has really worked for her. Daria said in an interview that her goal is
to help Iga be able to identify her own feelings and how to get better on the court and off-court.
After reaching the final 16 of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells on October 10, 2021,
Iga gave $50,000 of her prize money to help World Mental Health Day.
She revealed after saying, "I would say that in athletics,
it was always vital for me to employ that kind of help because I always thought that there was
some strength in my mental toughness that I could use on the court and improve in that fashion,"
Iga acknowledged after winning Roland Garros in 2020 that she had benefited from her sports
psychologist Daria. "It's simply beneficial to maintain an open mind. If you require such
assistance, go for it. If you're willing to put in the effort and are open-minded,
I believe it will benefit you much." Iga explained.
When Iga isn't setting records or winning on the tennis court,
she's winning in other areas of her life.
Since becoming famous, the Polish star has had a few endorsements. Since the beginning of 2020,
Asics has sponsored Iga for clothes. Nike had previously sponsored her outfits also.
She is also a brand ambassador to Red Bull energy drink firm; Xiaomi,
the Chinese tech behemoth, and the Lexus division of the Toyota automaker company.
Iga inked a racquet endorsement deal with Tecnifibre in 2021;
she previously used a Prince Textreme 100 Tour racquet but was not under contract with the
manufacturer. Her father also confirmed that she had also signed a contract with Rolex in 2021.
Since February 2021, her main partner has been PZU; a public traded insurance company in Poland.
HER HOBBIES AND LOVE FOR THE AC/DC BAND
Iga spends her free time reading books and listening to music,
although she has confessed before that she has a huge passion for music.
"I read books and listen to music in my spare time," she explained. "Music is a
huge part of my life, and I have music for any mood, but my favorite is rock."
The former Roland Garros champion revealed her delight to be in Australia,
which is home to one of her favorite bands, AC/DC, in a post-match interview.
When asked about the city's vibrant music scene, the Pole expressed that
she wants to attend a few performances by the band once the pandemic was over.
According to her, her favorite AC/DC is "Thunderstruck." Iga
has made no secret of her love for classic rock music.
She stated she prepares for matches by listening to Thunderstruck by AC/DC.
She's also a huge fan of Pink Floyd. When asked about her choice of music in an interview,
she said, "When I'm in the mood for Pop, I like ABBA. I also like Coldplay,
Florence and the Machine, and Santana. And if I want something more aggressive,
AC/DC gets me in the mood. I've been listening to "Thunderstruck" before the matches."
Iga adores cats and has a black female cat named Grappa, whom she claims she enjoys
spending time with. She is also a fan of Tv series, and her favorite series is Madmen.
Aside from binge-watching television dramas, she likes to read books as well.
She once stated that she enjoys reading historical novels and also enjoys crime
thrillers. According to her, one of her favorite authors is Dan Brown.
The current world number one has quite a lot going on outside the court, but that's
not stopping her from dominating women's tennis. One thing the fans are still expecting
is to know who her boyfriend is.. Is she seeing anyone? Is she single? Only time will tell.
Do you think Iga's athlete father figure helped her shape her career? Comment below!