Tennis player Iga Swiatek of Poland during the Miami Open at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, U.S., March 31, 2022. /CFP
Poland's Iga Swiatek will take over the world number one ranking in style next week after demolishing Japan's Naomi Osaka 6-4, 6-0 in the Miami Open final on Saturday to keep her remarkable winning streak.
The Polish second seed will take over the world number one ranking from Australian Ashleigh Barty, who stunned the sporting world last month when she announced her retirement from tennis at 25.
Swiatek did not drop a set in Miami and has won 17 consecutive matches since her championship run at the Qatar Open in February.
With the victory, the 20-year-old Swiatek becomes only the fourth woman to win the Indian Wells and Miami tournaments back-to-back, a feat known as the "Sunshine Double" given the tournaments' respective locations in California and Florida.
Iga Swiatek of Poland during a ceremony at the Miami Open tennis event in Miami, U.S., March 25, 2022. /CFP
Swiatek is the first woman to complete the "Sunshine Double" since Victoria Azarenka in 2016. Kim Clijsters (2005) and Steffi Graf (1994, 1996) are the other women to accomplish the feat.
"These weeks were so intense I didn't really know if I would able to keep up with the streak that I have," said Swiatek, who also became the first woman to win the opening three Women's Tennis Association (WTA) 1000 tournaments in a season.
"It's amazing for me that I could show mental toughness because my whole life I thought I could do more, and sometimes I was losing, and I didn't even know why. This season I feel like everything clicked, so it's great and I am really happy."