Iga Swiatek extended her Hologic WTA Tour hardcourt winning streak with a 6-4, 6-0 victory over Naomi Osaka in the Miami Open final. It was Swiatek’s 17th consecutive win and her third consecutive title.
On Monday, Swiatek will officially ascend to World No. 1 for the first time in her career. She moves into the position after her 1 hour 17 minute lead win.
“I feel really good and satisfied and very proud of myself,” Swiatek said in her post-match press conference. “I feel like I should celebrate, because I don’t know how long I can keep up with that streak.”
Read more: Here we hope for more matches in Swatek and Osaka
Sunshine Double Completed: Swiatek also joined an exclusive club to become only the fourth woman to win the Sunshine Double – WTA 1000 Indian Wells and Miami in the same season.
Stephanie Graf (1994 and 1996), Kim Clijsters (2005) and Victoria Azarenka (2016), all former players, are the other players. Swiatek, 20, is the youngest woman to achieve this feat.
“I feel very privileged to be among those players, because I couldn’t even dream of it a few years ago,” Swiatek said. “I knew it would be difficult to play these two tournaments in a row. I eventually realized it was just another match and I took it step by step.”
Owning WTA 1000s: Swiatek’s career winning streak continues, with all of her past 17 wins coming in the first three WTA 1000 events of the season.
Swiatek swept the titles at the WTA 1000 in Doha, Indian Wells and now Miami, joining Serena Williams (2013 – Miami, Madrid, Rome, Toronto) and Caroline Wozniacki (2010 – Montreal, Tokyo, Beijing) as the only players to have won three or more. 1000 consecutive WTA titles in a single season.
But Swiatek stands alone as the first player to win the first three WTA 1000 tournaments in a single season. This was her fourth WTA 1000 title and her sixth singles title overall.
Swiatek became the first player to win 17 consecutive hardcourt games in a single calendar year since Williams won 20 consecutive games between the Australian Open and Toronto in 2015.
“I’ve learned a lot about myself, that I can keep going, and I really don’t need to feel 100 per cent points to win matches against great players,” Swiatek said. “I can trust myself a little bit more now. I really used this font to get more confidence, and also to rank.”
Match moments: A tough 10-minute match began, with Osaka saving two break points and enduring seven draws before holding out. A few close matches followed before Swiatek won the first half of the day with a cross backhandkick to win 3-2.
That will be the defining moment. Swatik rose to the top by one set despite Osaka’s daring tactics to come back from the depths of the field. Swiatek kept the momentum going into the second set, and broke out Osaka immediately with a strong comeback on her part.
Finally, Swiatek fought out the last seven matches of the match to extend her incredible winning streak. Swiatek never faced a break point and won exactly two-thirds of Osaka’s second serve points (20 points for 30).
“Playing against Naomi in the final was very exciting, and I knew the world would watch, because it’s just a great match to follow,” Swiatek said. “I wanted to give the best tennis possible so that people could be satisfied. But on the other hand, just seeing that I can play well against such a player is really satisfying.”
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