Iga Swiatek has done it again.
The 22-year-old will reclaim her No. 1 spot in the WTA rankings after she won the WTA Finals in Cancun, Mexico, edging past Aryna Sabalenka.
Swiatek’s WTA finals journey
Swiatek had an intriguing start to her WTA finals journey when she alone donned a red dress at the draw ceremony and pre-tournament photo shoot, while the rest of the seven girls were all dressed in white. This caused Swiatek to stand out from the crowd, garnering the attention of many spectators, who complimented her on her stunning attire.
When interviewed by the Tennis Channel, Swiatek asserted that the incident was the result of a miscommunication. The Polish player shared that she had selected the dress, which had been designed by Magda Butrym, a few months prior to the ceremony, but then received an email from the WTA informing her that the dress code was to be white.
“Honestly there was no story!” she laughed. “I picked that dress a couple of months before, and then the WTA emailed us that we should all wear white. And we were like, really? We’re not getting married or something?
Iga Swiatek on why she was the only one wearing red at the WTA Finals Gala:
“Honestly there was no story. I picked the dress a couple months before. Then WTA emailed us that we should all wear white. We were like ‘really?’ We’re not getting married or something 😂. We asked them… pic.twitter.com/hF5ehbYQEU
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) October 31, 2023
“So we asked them if it’s possible to maybe not have that rule. And they literally sent an email a few hours later saying that it’s okay, you can wear whatever you want,” Swiatek said.
And for the rest of the week, Swiatek stood out as she didn’t lose one single game in the round-robin format of the tournament, prevailed against Bulgarian player Aryna Sabalenka, and reached the WTA Finals final, where she finally defeated American player Jessica Pegula in a dominant fashion.
Swiatek prevailed via a straight-set victory of 6-1, 6-0 to become the youngest champion since Petra Kvitova (21) in 2011, according to Olympics.com. This victory marked her first time winning at the WTA finals, her sixth title of the year, her sixty-eighth win of the year, and her seventeenth career singles title on the Hologic WTA tour.
Victory is yours, Iga 🏆@iga_swiatek defeats Pegula, 6-1, 6-0 to claim the 2023 GNP Seguros @WTAFinals title in Cancun!#WTAFinals #GNPSegurosWTAFinalsCancun pic.twitter.com/rhJw0WFIvo
— wta (@WTA) November 6, 2023
As a result, Swiatek will now be reclaiming her throne from Sabalenka to finish as the year-end No. 1 for the second straight season.
When asked about her most recent success, Swiatek described it as “a dream come true.”
“Coming back to world number one, it’s a dream come true, for sure,” Swiatek said per the WTA official website. “I would say I wasn’t expecting that right now, this season. I was hoping that maybe next year is gonna be my year, but it seems like you know, just working hard and focusing on the right things at the end worked. So I’m really happy.”
YEAR-END #1 IN 2022, YEAR-END #1 IN 2023! 🔥
With her triumph at the WTA Finals in Cancun, 🇵🇱 @iga_swiatek will now finish as year-end #1 on the WTA rankings for the SECOND STRAIGHT YEAR. ✌️
She's the youngest woman to achieve the feat since Caroline Wozniacki in 2010-2011:
— TENNIS (@Tennis) November 6, 2023
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Cover Photo: YouTube