Iga Świątek has skyrocketed to the top of women’s tennis with her recent play, and that continued on Saturday. The Polish star defeated Naomi Osaka 6-4, 6-0 to take home the Miami Open championship.
The victory is her 17th consecutive victory, which include 20 straight set wins and 12 straight set wins in a tournament final. This year, Świątek already won the Qatar Total Open and the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, making her the first person to ever sweep the first three WTA 1000s events of the year.
The victory should also launch her to No. 1 in the world, which would make her the first ever Polish No. 1 player.
Świątek, just 20 years old, wasn’t sure she would be able to keep up this level of play through the Miami Open.
“These weeks were so intense I didn't really know if I would able to keep up with the streak that I have,” she said, via Alexander Netherton of Eurosport. “It's amazing for me that I could show mental toughness because my whole life I thought I could do more and sometimes I was losing and I didn't even know why. This season I feel like everything clicked so it's great and I am really happy.”
She is also hopeful that this won’t be the last time she plays Osaka on a big stage.
“I think it’s the start of a great rivalry,” she said via The Washington Post’s Matthew Futterman.
Świątek and Osaka even expressed a mutual admiration for each other following the match.
Despite losing, Osaka already explained how “grateful” she was to be back in a tournament final. And despite the loss, she is very happy with where she is as a player right now.
“I know I haven’t been in this position for a little while,” she said after the match. “The outcome wasn’t what you wanted, but hopefully I can keep working hard and be in a position to do this again soon.”
