Despite her young age, Iga Światek is already the best player in Polish tennis history. At Sport.pl, we decided that her achievements deserve to be recognized by summarizing her entire season. At the end of 2022, we organized a poll called “Best of Ija”, where journalists from all over the world choose the best match, the biggest success, the best statement and the most dangerous competitor for Svetek. This year we continue the poll – the second category is “Greatest Achievement”.
There has been no shortage of success for Svetek in the 2023 season – however, the winner of our poll was the title defense in Paris. For the first time in her career, a Polish woman defended her Grand Slam title. The last tennis player to win the same Grand Slam tournament year after year was Serena Williams – Wimbledon 2015 and 2016. In France, no tennis player has defended the title in the last 16 years.
Jurors chose. “Cry, you're great!”
“Cry girl, you're great!” – We wrote immediately after the match between Iga Švetek and Karolina Muchová. After the last ball, the Polish woman hid her face in her hands, fell onto the court and vented her feelings. The victory over the Czech was not only a defense of her French Open title, but a victory in one of the most dramatic matches in the history of the tournament.
On a hot June afternoon, tennis players spent up to two hours and 49 minutes on Court Philippe Chartier. The three-set fight with Muchova was the longest match of the tournament for Świątek.
The finale itself was full of stressful twists and turns. In the second set, the Polish woman was already leading 3-0, and was three games away from victory, but she lost the second set 5-7. She lost because the impeccable Muchova began playing the concert. And it won't stop.
At the beginning of the third set, the Czech scored ten points in a row, and at the end of the service game that gave her a 2-0 lead, she played two aces. The ups and downs continued, and at one point Muchova was leading 4:3, fired up and ready to take the title away from the Pole.
But this did not break your healing power in any way. To achieve victory, the Pole had to climb Mount Everest in tennis. She emerged victorious in Paris for the third time.
Iga Świątek's success in Paris was greater because she was suffering from an injury before the tournament. Until the end, it was not certain what his form would be or whether the injury would appear during the event. However, in seven matches, she lost only one set (in the final) and was deservedly happy with the fourth Grand Slam title of her life, and the third in the French capital. She achieved this when she was only 22 years old.
Six members of the jury voted in favor of this achievement: Hubert Zdankiewicz from “The Truth”. -It was a difficult time for Ega. First, she lost the final in Madrid to Aryna Sabalenka, then she was injured and retired in Rome. Before she started at Roland Garros, Światek was under enormous pressure, and the first matches in Paris indicated that she was not at her best either. Zdankiewicz noted that her reaction after the last ball in the final clearly showed how much pressure and health it all cost her.
After the final, Eija covered her face, crouched down and started crying. She released all her emotions in an instant. After the match, she thanked the team for its support. You can see how much effort she has put behind it, not only physically but emotionally as well.
Winning three times in one tournament is a kind of message sent to competitors. It's really hard to stay in good shape for as long as Ija does. Her regularity, especially in Paris, is impressive – added Ukrainian tennis journalist Mykita Berityatko from the btu.org.ua portal.
There was also another strong candidate
Iga Świątek's latest achievement – returning to number one in the WTA rankings – received only one vote short of the jury. Polar lost her lead after the US Open, when Sabalenka became the new leader. However, the reign of the Belarusian woman did not last long, but only two months. Świątek, after winning the WTA Finals in Cancun at the end of the season, became number one again.
– This achievement is all the greater because at one point it seemed like Eads was very far away from Arena. A few weeks ago, few people expected the Pole to regain the top spot so quickly, says Italian journalist Mario Boccardi.
Thomas Wolfke also voted for this achievement. – Because IGA has shown that its periods of dominance will be repeated. This happened twice in the 2023 season, at the beginning and at the end. Perhaps these periods will not be as amazing as the 37 consecutive matches won in 2022, but they are equally devastating and frustrating for opponents – points out the Eurosport commentator.
Iga Świątek's greatest achievements in 2023 – jury votes:
- Title defense at Roland Garros – six votes
- Return to first place in the WTA rankings at the end of the season – five votes
- Winning the WTA Finals tournament in Cancun – four votes
