Iga Swiatek has safely surpassed topping $20 million in career cash price earnings after the event by claiming her opening round at the US Open on Monday. She easily defeated the Swedish Rebecca Peterson, 6-0, 6-1. She is the first female tennis pro born in the 2000s to have accomplished that astonishing feat.
Carlos Alcaraz, 20, made history last week when he became the first tennis player from the 2000s, male or female. Iga had $19,906,763 when he entered the competition, and advancing to the second round of the US Open pays $123,000. Swiatek will become the 23rd player in WTA history to reach that milestone.
Game, set, and career earnings milestone! 🎾🇵🇱@iga_swiatek‘s first-round victory at the #USOpen guarantees her a spot in the $20 Million Club for prize money earnings.
Record Alert: She is the first female tennis player born in the 2000s to reach that prize money milestone.🎾 pic.twitter.com/xLG0VsKWqc
— FirstSportz Tennis (@FS_Tennis1) August 28, 2023
Swiatek had $5,171,686 in prize money as of YTD 2023, as per the WTA’s official website. Making her net worth a little over $20 million.
The total player remuneration for the 2023 US Open will be $65 million, setting a new record for the competition. The amount this year is up 8% from the $60 million total from 2022, and it includes $3 million given to the winners of both male and female singles tournaments.
Why did Iga Swiatek lose at the US Open? John McEnroe speaks
Iga Swiatek, the defending US Open champion, lost to Jelena Ostapenko in a shocking match, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1, and was eliminated from the season-ending Grand Slam in the round of 16. John McEnroe said Swiatek was “unsure of herself” in the match. He said, “I don’t know what happened, her level dropped and she didn’t seem to be able to adapt, to do anything different. And then she looked like she started to get unsure of herself, not sure what to do.”
Ostapenko rose to an outstanding 4-0 head-to-head record against Swiatek with the US Open victory. John continued to claim that Iga at first looked like she had figured out the winning recipe in the first set. However, as the match continued, Swiatek lost momentum.
Swiatek, who had won the first set, started the second set slowly, and Ostapenko quickly built a 3-0 lead. Swiatek was able to regain the lead in the seventh game. But she lost her serve once more as Ostapenko took a 5-3 lead in the following game.
Jelena Ostapenko hits an 82 mph forehand winner against Iga Swiatek.
There’s power.
And then there’s Penko power. pic.twitter.com/5sfIqgmv1W
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) September 4, 2023
McEnroe further remarked how Ostapenko plays with a lot of pace and unpredictability. He went on to assert how the fact that the ball will be coming hard at the opponent’s side is the only thing that can be predicted beforehand.
Ostapenko saved her first set point while serving for the set in the 9th game to force a third set. The third set then got off to an amazing start for Ostapenko. She defeated Swiatek in three straight games to take a 5-0 lead. In the seventh game, when the Pole was serving to stay in the match, she broke Swiatek for the 4th time in the set.
However, Ostapenko’s journey was cut short as the American Coco Gauff defeated Ostapenko in straight sets to storm into the quarter-finals. With a stress-free 6-0, 6-2 victory over her, Coco Gauff has increased her chances of winning a first Grand Slam trophy.
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