Iga Swiatek has just fallen short of making history following her shock exit from the US Open.
The Pole’s title defence at Flushing Meadows came to an end following a 6-3, 3-6, 1-6 defeat by Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko. Following her fourth round loss, the 22-year-old will lose her World No. 1 ranking once the final Grand Slam of the year has concluded.
It brings her 75-week run at the summit of women’s tennis to an end and she was just six weeks away from entering the WTA’s top 10 of consecutive weeks at No.1 Swiatek sits just behind Switzerland’s Martina Hingis in 10th position, who spent 80 straight weeks as the world’s top female player.
Assessing her run as the No. 1, the reigning French Open champion admitted the pressure of holding onto the top ranking spot had been weighing on her. “Well, it meant a lot, obviously,” Swiatek told reporters after the match. “It was great. On the other hand this last part was pretty exhausting.
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“I still need to do all this stuff that my team and all these great players like Roger or Novak or Rafa are telling about: you just have to focus on the tournaments, not the rankings.” Going into New York, Swiatek led the tour in both wins and titles this year, winning four, three of which were successful title defences.
Her 75-week streak is the third longest in WTA history for a first-time world No.1, behind only Stefanie Graf (186) and Hingis’ aforementioned 80 weeks. Swiatek became the No. 1 when Ash Barty announced her shock retirement last April and during her run, she won 37 consecutive matches, the longest win streak of the 21st century.
Swiatek, who wore On Running clothing and Asics footwear at Flushing Meadows, became the first Polish No.1 in tennis history and despite the success achieved as the women’s highest-ranked player, wished she could have stayed there longer. “I would love to extend this record a little bit longer,” Swiatek added.
Swiatek exited the US Open at the fourth round stage and lost her No. 1 ranking in the process
Swiatek exited the US Open at the fourth round stage and lost her No. 1 ranking in the process ( Image: Sarah
“This is something that when I was younger, I actually kind of wanted to break some record or have something. I already did that ’cause I already won a Slam as a first Polish player. Obviously being No.1 as the third player in history is great. But for sure when it happens, when you lose it, there are some sad emotions.
“As I said at the beginning, all these great players know it’s going to come back if you’re going to work hard, focus on the right things, just develop as a player. For sure besides this match, which was pretty weird, I feel like I am progressing as a player. I have more skills. The hardest part is already done for me, but this season was really tough and intense.
“It’s not easy to cope with all of this stuff. I’m just happy that I will have time to reset a little bit.” Swiatek will be replaced at the top of the rankings by Aryna Sabalenka, who won her maiden major at the Australian Open in January. She is bidding for her second Grand Slam title at the ongoing US Open and will face 13th seed Daria Kasatkina in round four.