Seeds tumble as Swiatek claims number one ranking
NEW world number one Iga Swiatek has blitzed her way into the third round of the Miami Open, and with other results, will claim the top spot in the wake of current holder Ash Barty‘s retirement. The Polish 20-year-old burst onto the scene with a stunning Roland Garros victory in 2020, and has gone from strength to strength to enter the Top 10 last year, and now risen all the way up to world number two this week just gone to then assume Barty’s position following the Australian’s request to be removed from the rankings.
Swiatek achieved it with a smashing 6-2 6-0 victory over Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic in an hour and 14 minutes. The world number two won 67.6 per cent of her first serve points and 50 per cent of her second serve points off a 67.3 per cent clip. By comparison, Golubic could only win 15 points on her serve, and was broken six times. Though she did manage to break Swiatek once, the Pole saved eight break points.
“The thing is, I never really imagined that moment because, truth to be told, I was working day-by-day and playing tennis well,” Swiatek said when told of her move to world number one. “But I never had the strong belief that it can actually happen. So, it’s even more surreal for me.
“I loved every moment of it. It doesn’t matter for me if there were fireworks. The crowd was really supportive, they were really excited. I’m just soaking everything in because I didn’t have any expectations.
The achievement became possible not only from the win, but thanks to losses to her nearest rivals, Aryna Sabalenka, Anett Kontaveit and Maria Sakkari.
OTHER MIAMI OPEN ROUND OF 64 RESULTS:
Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU) defeated [1] Aryna Sabalenka (-) 6-4 6-4
Ann Li (USA) defeated [3] Anett Kontaveit (EST) 6-0 3-6 6-4
Beatriz Haddad Maia (BRA) defeated [4] Maria Sakkari (GRE) 4-6 6-1 6-2
[5] Paula Badosa (ESP) defeated Marie Bouzkova (ESP) 7-5 7-5
Anna Kalinskaya (-) defeated [6] Karolina Pliskova (CZE) 6-3 6-3
[8] Ons Jabeur (TUN) defeated Magda Linette (POL) 7-6 6-2
[9] Danielle Collins (USA) defeated Anna Bondar (HUN) 6-3 3-6 6-4
Shelby Rogers (USA) defeated [10] Jelena Ostapenko 6-3 7-6
Katerina Siniakova (CZE) defeated [11] Emma Raducanu (GBR) 3-6 6-4 7-5
[12] Victoria Azarenka (-) defeated Ekaterina Alexandrova (-) 6-4 2-6 7-6
Naomi Osaka (JPN) defeated [13] Angelique Kerber (GER) 6-2 6-3
[14] Coco Gauff (USA) defeated Qiang Wang (CHN) 7-5 6-4
Heather Watson (GBR) defeated [15] Elina Svitolina (UKR) 4-6 6-3 7-6
[16] Jessica Pegula (USA) defeated Sloane Stephens (USA) 6-1 6-4
[17] Elena Rybakina (KAZ) defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse (ROU) 6-4 7-5
Karolina Muchova (CZE) defeated [18] Leylah Fernandez (CAN) 6-4 7-6
Vera Zvonareva (-) defeated [19] Tamara Zidansek (SLO) 6-3 6-2
Linda Fruhvirtova (CZE) defeated [20] Elise Mertens (BEL) 7-5 2-6 6-1
[21] Veronika Kudermetova (-) defeated Dalma Galfi (HUN) 5-1 RET
[22] Belinda Bencic (SUI) defeated Marta Kostyuk (UKR) 6-3 6-1
Shuai Zhang (CHN) defeated [24] Sorana Cirstea (ROU) 6-1 6-1
Aliaksandra Sasnovich (-) defeated [25] Daria Kasatkina (-) 7-6 6-4
Anhelina Kalinina (UKR) defeated [26] Madison Keys (USA) 3-6 6-3 6-4
[28] Petra Kvitova (CZE) defeated Clara Burel (FRA) 6-1 3-6 6-3
Madison Brengle (USA) defeated [29] Liudmila Samsonova (-) 6-4 6-0
Alison Riske (USA) defeated [31] Alize Cornet (FRA) 6-2 6-2
Kaia Kanepi (EST) defeated [32] Sara Sorribes Tormo (ESP) 3-6 7-5 6-0
Yulia Putintseva (KAZ) defeated Lesia Tsurenko (UKR) 6-3 4-6 7-5
Lauren Davis (USA) defeated Storm Sanders (AUS) 6-4 6-1
Daria Saville (AUS) defeated Harmony Tan (FRA) 6-4 6-2
Lucia Bronzetti (ITA) defeated Stefanie Voegele (SUI) 6-2 6-1
Tsitsipas’ triple treat in Monte Carlo
GREEK star Stefanos Tsitsipas has won his third Monte Carlo Masters, getting past fellow clay court talent Casper Ruud in the final. The decider on Court Rainier III lasted 97 minutes, with the 12th seed winning 6-1 6-4 over the eighth seeded Norwegian, adding the 2024 title to his back-to-back 2021-22 trophies. It is an […]
Monte Carlo madness: Top two ousted in semis
CLAY courts can tend to throw up some big results, and that was certainly the case in the semi-final stage of the 2024 Monte Carlo Masters. With the top two in the world, Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner heading for a memorable final, many expected the pair to face-off in the decider. The only problem? […]
Djoker quells Demon to reach Monte Carlo semis
WORLD number one Novak Djokovic proved that bit too strong for Australian Alex de Minaur, getting home in a tight two-set match at the Monte Carlo Masters. While just a couple of breaks throughout the course of the match separated the players, Djokovic was able to move to within two victories of a third clean […]
Rune wins Dimitrov slog to reach Monte Carlo quarters
WHEN you had to play your Round of 32 match earlier in the day following rain suspension from the previous day, the last thing you want is an epic struggle, but that was exactly the case for Dane Holger Rune who needed three and half hours to get past Grigor Dimitrov and reach the Monte […]
Pop goes the Rublev, as defending champ ousted by Aussie
AUSSIE Alexei Popyrin caused a massive boilover at the Monte Carlo Masters overnight, defeating top 10 star and defending champion Andrey Rublev to set up an all-Aussie third round match with Alex de Minaur. Popyrin has always shown the potential to be a top-line player, and he put it all together against the sixth seed, […]
Demon dash – Aussie races into second round
TOP-RANKED Australian Alex de Minaur was at his brutal best, making light work of Swiss Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka to reach the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters in a flurry. Needing just 63 minutes against the wildcard, de Minaur won 6-3 6-0, including the last eight games of the match. Wasting no […]
Getting his Fils: Arthur slays Hanfmann
YOUNG Frenchman Arthur Fils wasted no time in destroying his German opponent Yannick Hanfmann and making history in the process at the Monte Carlo Masters overnight. The 19-year-old Frenchman became the youngest male player from his nation to win a match at the event in almost two decades when he wiped his lucky loser opponent […]
Badosa spoils Halep return
SPANISH former world number two Paula Badosa played the role of party pooper against former world number one Simona Halep, with the latter returning to the WTA Tour for the first time in 18 months at the Miami Open. Despite Halep completely dominating the first set, Badosa worked her way back into the contest, and […]
Swiatek storms past Sakkari for Indian Wells title
WORLD number one Iga Swiatek showed no mercy against Greek top 10 talent Maria Sakkari, defeating her comprehensively in the 2024 Indian Wells WTA 1000 final, the second time in three years.The pair met back in 2022 with the result the same, though this time it was even more one-sided with Swiatek trouncing the world […]
