Polish tennis player Iga Swiatek has charted an enviable path in her promising career. Winning a Grand Slam is the height of accomplishment for tennis players, and Iga has won it four times already. The Pole has thus established her authority on the tennis court with her skills and her determination. With such achievements under her belt already, tennis expert Jon Wertheim feels that Swiatek is worthy of ‘Hall of Fame’ status.
Despite being only 22 years of age, Swiatek has found incredible success. She won the French Open thrice, repeating the feat this year as well. In addition to winning the title at Roland Garros, Iga also won the US Open last year.
Moreover, Swiatek reigned as the world number for 75 consecutive weeks. This put her tenth on the list of the longest amount of time at the top of the WTA rankings. For these reasons, Jon Wertheim feels that should Iga retire soon, she would go down in history as one of the best players.
Iga Świątek is an indisputably extraordinary tennis player who’s far from boring—contrary to errant critiques about her personality.
“The sport ought to be thankful it has her,” writes @jon_wertheim. https://t.co/wXTMcG6wZZ
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) October 11, 2023
“The extraordinary player is beyond dispute. She could retire tomorrow, at age 22, and be a no-brainer Hall of Famer,” said Wetheirm (via TennisUpToDate).
Swiatek has often been criticized for her personality. However, Werhtiem countered those claims and highlighted some of her best qualities, like her stance on the Russia-Ukraine war. Wertheim also spoke of Iga’s deep love for the sport.
Swiatek was very impressive during her latest outing at the China Open, where she won her fifth title of the year. She locked horns with Liudmila Samsonova and defeated her 6-2, 6-2 in straight sets.
Iga Swiatek is back! 🔥
The World No. 2 won her 6th WTA 1000 title at the China Open with a convincing 6-2, 6-2 victory over Liudmila Samsonova 🏆
Read more in @McIntyreTennis‘ recap ➡️ https://t.co/NcFkLRccyh pic.twitter.com/ZHzO5tyObQ
— Omnium Banque Nationale (@OBNmontreal) October 10, 2023
There is no doubt that Iga Swiatek will go down as one of the best players in history. Her statistics and drive to win prove it too, and she recently surpassed Naomi Osaka in terms of the prize money she has won.
Iga Swiatek overtook Naomi Osaka after her win in Beijing
By her own standards, the Pole has had a decent year, something that even her colleague agrees on. Swiatek has now reached a major milestone- she surpassed Osaka in total prize money won after lifting the title in Beijing.
By securing the fifth title of the year in China, Swiatek won $1,324,000. Iga’s win saw her shoot past the former world number one Osaka, and her total earnings is estimated to be around $21,514,763. Swiatek only trails behind Ash Barty and Elina Svitolina on this list.
With title run in Beijing, Swiatek passes Osaka in career prize money.
ATP and WTA players currently under age 30 with $20M+ in career prize money:
36.5 Zverev
34.3 Medvedev
27.1 Tsitsipas
23.8 Barty
22.8 Svitolina
21.5 Swiatek
21.3 Alcaraz
21.1 Osaka— Oleg S. (@AnnaK_4ever) October 9, 2023
Swiatek also has the golden opportunity to take back the top rank from Aryna Sabalenka by the end of the year. A mere 590 points separate them as of now.
Iga Swiatek has faced a lot of ups and downs this year, but she has always come out stronger than before. She is a fierce competitor on the court and has her eyes set on the WTA Finals.