By Dominique Olaleye
Poland’s Iga Swiatek has reached a new feat in her career by overtaking Australian former player Ash Barty in the all-time list of weeks at No.1. Iga Swiatek is the current women’s singles world No.1 and has not dropped ranking for the whole 2024 season.
As of 23rd September 2024, Iga’s impressive standing at 122 cumulative weeks at No.1 means she climbs up the list and past Ash Barty who achieved 121 weeks as the highest ranked player in the World. Three-time Grand Slam singles champion Ash Barty now sits eighth on the list after an impressive career which included sitting at the No.1 spot for 122 consecutive weeks until her retirement. Following the Australian’s retirement as No.2 in the world, Swiatek made history by becoming the first Polish tennis player to become No.1 in the world in 2022.
At only 23, Iga continues to demonstrate strong signs of having a long, prosperous and dominant career. Since turning pro in 2016, Swiatek has won five Grand Slam titles – four at Roland Garros and one at Flushing Meadows. She has done well for her country earning a bronze medal for Poland at this Summer’s Olympics for her singles performance and in becoming the first Pole to win a major. 2022 was a record-breaking season for the young Polish champion. Her feats included winning back-to-back WTA 1000 titles (Indian Wells and Qatar) as well as accumulating a 37-match win streak. This streak still stands as the longest win streak on the WTA circuit in the 21st century. Swiatek’s success has continued into 2023 and 2024 which proves her talent and longevity in the game of tennis.
Swiatek has ended the last two seasons as No.1 in the world and is hoping to make this a third consecutive season, however, Aryna Sabalenka is chomping at the heels. These two have one of the greatest rivalries in tennis right now and have played one another 12 times since 2021. Both Grand Slam champions in great form, Iga leads their head-to-head 8-4 but their matches are always closely contested battles. This year alone has produced three matches with their most thrilling being in the Madrid Open Final where they competed for over three hours with Swiatek clinching the victory in three gruelling sets. With some of the record breakers such as Serena Williams and Ash Barty having retired, it is great to see that there is still much history to be made with this new generation and emergence of players.
This is how the top eight players on the all-time list of cumulative weeks at World No.1 now stands:
Stefanie Graf: 377 weeks
Martina Navratilova: 332 weeks
Serena Williams: 319 weeks
Chris Evert: 260 weeks
Martina Hingis: 209 weeks
Monica Seles: 178 weeks
Iga Swiatek: 122 weeks
Ashleigh Barty: 121 weeks
