After her French Open victory, Iga Swiatek cemented her status as the world’s top-ranked female tennis player when the WTA released its updated rankings. The 23-year-old Polish girl’s win over Jasmine Paolini in a dominant final marked her 4th French Open Title and also helped her prove her dominance in the sport.
Swiatek’s latest win has widened the gap between her and her nearest competitor Coco Gauff by 3,707 points. With her most recent victory, Swiatek has now topped the rankings for 107 weeks in total, except for a brief stint in the fall of 2023 when Aryna Sabalenka briefly held the top spot. Sabalenka had been a strong competitor in the women’s game but she dropped to third after Gauff’s ascent.
Former world No 1 Roddick feels Swiatek already finds herself in the list of legends just below the top four of Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, Serena Williams, and Steffi Graf.
“Swiatek, four Majors, nine WTA 1000 titles already, 20 total titles. You could chop her resume into a third and I think she would still have it,” he said on the Served with Andy Roddick podcast. “Hundred odd weeks at No 1 since Ash Barty retired and kind of handed the No 1 ranking over to her. Swiatek is on her way to becoming one of the best players of all time. The women’s side of the game has some separation between Martina, Chrissy, and Serena and then you have the rest as far as singles titles go … sorry I mean Steffi is obviously right up there, she is unbelievable. Maybe the most dominant player I have seen day in, and day out in my entire life. But those four are separated from everyone else. Swiatek is one Slam away from [Maria] Sharapova, [three away from] Justine Henin, she is three Slams away from Venus [Williams] and she is 22.”