The evolution of Iga Swiatek at the WTA Finals

Since ascending to the No.1 ranking in the spring of 2022, Iga Swiatek has maintained that lofty spot for 114 of 122 weeks. In global play across five continents, amid drastically varying conditions and surfaces, Swiatek has consistently been the Hologic WTA Tour’s best player.

This year has been no different. The 23-year-old from Poland and freshly minted Olympic bronze medalist already has won four WTA 1000 events and a Grand Slam, at Roland Garros. As a result, Swiatek leads the PIF Race to the WTA Finals with 7,465 points — and is the first to qualify for the year-end event, to be played in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Nov. 2-9.

Swiatek, the defending champion, will be making her fourth consecutive appearance at the WTA Finals.

More from the WTA Finals

The top eight players in the Race standings at season’s end will join Swiatek in the Riyadh field. The current standings: 1. Swiatek 7,465, 2. Elena Rybakina 4,901, 3. Aryna Sabalenka 4,661, 4. Jasmine Paolini 4,505, 5. Coco Gauff 3,598, 6. Danielle Collins 3,167, 7. Barbora Krejcikova 2,616, 8. Zheng Qinwen 2,520.

PIF Race to the WTA Finals standings

When Swiatek won the WTA Finals last November in Cancun, Mexico, it was the final step in her evolving relationship with the WTA Finals. In a way, it was a microcosm of her rise through the ranks of elite tennis.

Here’s a brief look at Swiatek’s swift progression at the WTA Finals:

2021 Guadalajara

The year before, at the age of 19, Swiatek won her first major title at Roland Garros.

“I was always imagining that when I’m going to win a Grand Slam, I’m going just enjoy it for the rest of my life, it’s going to be rainbows everywhere,” Swiatek said later. “I’m going to be some kind of at peace in myself that I already won a Grand Slam, and I reached my goal.

“The truth is that humans aren’t like that. They just want more. I still feel expectations even though I did something great at the French Open. I want more, basically.”

That extended to the WTA Finals, when Swiatek became the first player born in the 21st century to qualify for Guadalajara.

At the Akron Tennis Stadium in Zapopan, a suburb of Guadalajara, the second largest city in Mexico, Swiatek came in as the No.5 seed and won her first match in straight sets over No.7 Paula Badosa. That was the highlight of her week.

She lost her other two matches in round-robin group play, in straight sets to No.4 Maria Sakkari and to No.1 seed Aryna Sabalenka, 2-6, 6-2, 7-5. It was a first-time meeting and was destined to become one of the best rivalries in the sport.

2022 Fort Worth

This time, the roles of Sabalenka and Swiatek were somewhat reversed.

When Ashleigh Barty retired ahead of the Miami Open, Swiatek rose to the No.1 ranking. She had already won 11 consecutive matches, with titles in Doha and Indian Wells. But now she truly accelerated and took four more titles, in Miami, Stuttgart, Rome and, for the second time, at Roland Garros. It all added up to a terrific 37-match win streak.

Swiatek came in with more than double the ranking points of No.2 Ons Jabeur.

Meanwhile, Sabalenka called it a “miracle” that she even qualified for the WTA Finals, coming in as the No.7 seed.

Swiatek buzzed through her group, defeating No. 8 Daria Kasatkina, No.6 Caroline Garcia and No. 4 Coco Gauff — all in straight sets. Swiatek was a prohibitive favorite because Sabalenka, her semifinal opponent, had lost all four of her 2022 matches against Swiatek. One of those was the US Open semifinal, when Swiatek overcame a break in the third set and collected her third major title. Swiatek was also riding a streak of 15 straight wins over Top 10 opponents.

But it was Sabalenka who prevailed, 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 in 2 hours and 8 minutes, ending Swiatek’s seven-match win streak. Sabalenka became only the fourth woman to defeat the Top 3 players at the same tournament, joining Steffi Graf and Serena and Venus Williams. Sabalenka went on to lose the final to Garcia.

2023 Cancun

Swiatek needed to run the table at this Mexican resort by the sea to regain her No.1 ranking from Sabalenka.

And that’s just what happened last fall.

The No.2-seeded Swiatek defeated No.7 Marketa Vondrousova, No.6 Ons Jabeur and No.3 Coco Gauff in round-robin group play — all in straight sets.

Going full circle, Swiatek took down No.1 Sabalenka 6-3, 6-2 in a rain-suspended semifinal match, avenging her year-end losses the two previous years. That left only No.5 Jessica Pegula standing between Swiatek and the No.1 ranking in the season’s final match. Pegula, too, was undefeated in her four matches.

“I feel like it’s still a long way,” Swiatek said, “because tomorrow’s match should be like the toughest one.”

That contest was pushed to a Monday because of rain. Pegula, who was attempting to complete a sweep of the Top 4 players ranked above her, ran into a wall. Swiatek won 6-1, 6-0 to recover her No.1 ranking.

She hasn’t relinquished it since.