1. She took the torch from Ash Barty
It was in March of 2022 that then-world No.1 and reigning Australian Open champion Ash Barty had the ultimate mic drop: retiring from professional tennis at the top of the game.
Enter Swiatek, who won 17 consecutive matches to claim the titles in Doha, Indian Wells and Miami and made the swift rise from world No.8 to the peak of the rankings mountain in less than two months.
But the then-20-year-old wasn’t done there. Swiatek would ultimately claim 37 match victories in a row, the longest win streak on the WTA since 1997 – and the longest in the 21st Century.
Vaulted to world No.1-status, Swiatek built a 67-9 overall record in 2022, won eight titles in total – including both the French and US Opens – and wore the heavy crown with her head held high.
2. Iga the hipster
Sift through Swiatek’s tennis posts on her social media and a few themes pop out: Her love of fine coffee, any body of water, (lots of!) reading, good food and Lego. Yes, Lego.
It’s a Williamsburg hipster vibe. Or, in Melburnian terms, Fitzroy. Or Collingwood, or Brunswick… take your pick.
Swiatek would fit in in any of them: We can see her sipping a flat white in a Fitzroy cafe, working on her latest Lego-venture.
The famed plastic building blocks aren’t just a distraction, though. They’re a tool, Iga says.
“I like the process so much as it helps me to calm, focus on here and now [and] just be in the moment when I need it,” Swiatek told Forbes prior to the US Open.
She added: “On the other hand, I’m always curious about the final result, and I enjoy the final work a lot.”
3. She’s a national hero
Having skyrocketed to world No.1 in 2022, Swiatek has become a hero in her home country of Poland, where she’s a household name and serves as an inspiration for many.
In 2023, she was voted Poland’s Sports Personality of the Year. Her list of “firsts” for the country in tennis is long, including the first singles player to claim a Grand Slam (Roland Garros 2020) or win an Olympic medal (bronze at Paris 2024).
4. She’s a Rafa stan – just like any of us
As many players reach the top, they shy away from talking about the legends that inspired them as kids. Not Iga.
“He was the only player I watched,” Swiatek said at this week’s Billie Jean King Cup Finals of her all-time hero, Rafael Nadal.
5. She always has her eye on levelling up
From her junior Grand Slam wins to catapulting to world No.1, Swiatek has always eyed the next level of the sport.
Last Australian summer, she arrived Down Under with a completely new service motion. “We changed the whole movement before the shot, basically,” she shared.
The change proved fruitful: Swiatek (through her 68 completed matches as of this publishing) bumped her service hold rate from 80.4 per cent in 2023 to 82.6 in 2024, while also improving on her first serve percentage (65.5 to 66.1 per cent) as well as break points saved (51.1 to 66.1 per cent).
