Former 18-time Grand Slam champion Martina Navratilova thinks Iga Swiatek is definitely the most dominant WTA player at the moment. Swiatek, 21, has made nine finals and won eight titles this year, including Grand Slam triumphs at the French Open and US Open.
Between February and July, Swiatek went on a stunning 37-match winning streak. Swiatek’s run of 37 consecutive wins was the longest winning streak seen on the WTA Tour in the 21st century. “That streak was the biggest streak in a long time on the women’s tour,” Navratilova told TENNIS magazine.
Navratilova: Swiatek has been dominant this year
After winning two Grand Slam titles and establishing herself as the best player in the game, Swiatek will be aiming to cap off her season by winning her maiden WTA Finals title.
“Iga just really dominated the tour this year, and deserves to be number one. I don’t think anybody can catch her. Actually it’s way too late now. I think for Iga, winning [WTA Finals] would be an opportunity to put an exclamation point on an amazing year.
For all the other ones, it may be a chance to salvage a year that wasn’t as good as it could have been,” Navratilova explained. Swiatek, who became No 1 for the first time in April, has been ranked at the top spot for 29 consecutive weeks.
Navratilova, who spent 332 weeks ranked at the top spot, is not ready to put up a number but she definitely believes Swiatek could spend many more weeks at No 1. “That’s way too soon to tell because, I think there’s so much that can still happen.
Looking at the rankings, she has over twice as many points than anybody else. So it’s a massive gap. Caroline Garcia is kind of nipping at their heels [in the Race] too. Coco Gauff is on her way. But Iga has been the most consistent, as well as winning. Not just consistent, but consistently winning titles,” Navratilova said.