World No. 1 and US Open champion Iga Swiatek speaks to CNN after she defeated China’s Li Na in the final of the U.S. Open in July.
A woman of many words, Iga Swiatek, who captured the women’s singles gold medal at the US Open last year, has been a great source of inspiration, whether through her words to the media or her actions to support fellow athletes.
Swiatek, who is from Poland and trained in Australia, was one of the most decorated athletes in the history of the United States when she was able to win the 2006 US Open title. She went on to win a second US Open title at the 2007 US Open, the 2008 Pan American Games and the 2009 Pan American Cup. She also played in the top five for three years straight. It was her fifth US Open singles title.
From the Australian Open, she captured the 2012 Australian Open and the 2012 Australian Grand Slam. Swiatek was ranked No. 1 for six weeks in 2012 and took it down in early 2013. Her third Australian Open title in 2013 marked the first Australian Open title for a female player.
“The dream has come true, the most important thing,” she said. “This means everything. I hope to keep doing tennis for my whole life.”
Swiatek, who was born in Krakow, was the first athlete to break the 10 U.S. Men’s singles U.S Open scoring record in 1993, and her record of 62 victories in singles competition remains unbroken. She also holds the all-time record for most singles U.S. Open titles in singles competition, with 19. She holds 14 Australian Open singles titles and was the first to complete the career Grand Slam of all four Grand Slams, which the International Tennis Federation considers a Grand Slam. Swiatek is the only woman in the history of both the Australian and US Open tennis tournaments to have won an Australian Open title.
She is the only woman to have ever won a major singles title at 18. Swiatek’s sister and tennis partner Marta, who was an Australian Open finalist in 1996, also holds the distinction of being the youngest singles champion in U.S.