Iga Świątek just broke it. It lasted well over a thousand days!
It is worth recalling that Iga Świątek became the leader of the ranking for the first time on April 4, 2022. At that time, the Polish woman jumped into the leader's seat, after the end of her career of the previous number 1 - Australian Ashleigh Barty.
WTA: Iga Świątek suffers a painful defeat in Rome. The Polish player will be off the podium in the rankingsThe tennis player who took up the gauntlet in the fight with the Polish champion was Aryna Sabalenka. The Belarusian managed to overtake Świątek in the second half of 2023, but she fought back during the WTA Finals. However, the next season belonged to Sabalenka, at least looking at its second half and what is actually happening to this day. The tennis player from Minsk settled in the first WTA position, while Świątek took the opposite path. The 23-year-old Pole cannot break through and win the tournament again.
Świątek has been waiting for success and lifting the cup after the final clash since the tournament on the Roland Garros courts in Paris. That is, practically exactly one year, looking at the current moment of the season. The breakthrough was supposed to come on clay courts. However, Świątek lost in the semi-finals to Coco Gauff in Madrid (WTA 1000), and it was even worse in Rome, where the Polish player ended her participation in the third round - winning only one match. Danielle Collins turned out to be better than Świątek. The American took revenge for the lost, loud quarter-final of the Olympic tournament in Paris (2024). In Saturday's match, Świątek was a shadow of herself. It was difficult to recognize the same dominator in the player from the times when she had no equals on her beloved surface, clay.
What does the defeat by Collins mean in practice? The Polish player will not defend her title from Rome in 2024, and Świątek will feel it strongly in the WTA ranking. It has already been calculated that the Polish player will fall outside the world's top three. This is the first such situation since... March 2022! Converting into days, as reported by "The Tennis Letter" known on X, this is the first such situation in 1161 days. This shows how long the Polish player has remained at the top of the world.
Fourth place is of course still a very good position in the WTA hierarchy. However, the Polish player is in a bind before the Grand Slam in Paris. Interestingly, as reported by "OptaAce", also with X, the Polish player's defeat to Collins ended a great series of 26 consecutive WTA 1000 tournaments, in which she appeared at least in the best sixteen. Rome 2025 turned out to be a black spot. This is the first such situation for Świątek since Cincinnati 2021.
As a consolation for Polish fans, in the third round in Rome , Magda Linette and Magdalena Fręch will also play on the women's side, and Hubert Hurkacz on the men's side. The victorious return of the best Polish singles player is especially pleasing. "Hubi" needs points to rebuild his position.
Hopefully Świątek won't have to deal with problems like Hurkacz's in the future.
Read also: These are the new Polish champions! The magical season has become a fact Read also: The tragic death of the president of the football club. It is an absolute shock
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