In reaching the Miami Open final, Swiatek’s winning streak that began in Doha in the third week in February hit 16 matches, and inspired Evert to say: “I always have thought that to put together seven matches in a Grand Slam was really hard. [But] to put together 16 matches in a row with this field, with this depth in the women’s game, and not having a real dip, not having a let-down, is almost unheard of.”
Yet that run was neither the beginning nor the end of something. Not even close. Swiatek defeated struggling former No. 1 Naomi Osaka in the Miami final and went on to record 20 more consecutive wins before her 37-match win streak—the joint-longest, with Martina Hingis, on the WTA tour since 1990—was ended at six titles by Alizé Cornet in the third round of Wimbledon.
By that point, it was clear that the coaching change was an inspired stroke. What happened next? Swiatek, a natural on red clay, claimed her second Roland Garros title just after turning 21. Many then wondered if she could successfully adapt her game to other surfaces. The wins at Indian Wells and Miami were crafted on a strategy that was already becoming less reliant on spin and counterpunching, more dependent on flatter ball striking and first-strike opportunism, including more forays to the net. Swiatek rode those skills to her crowning achievement in 2022, the US Open title.
“At the beginning of the season, I realized that maybe I can have some good results on WTA [hard court] events,” Swiatek, an Australian Open semifinalist, said shortly after she triumphed in Arthur Ashe Stadium. “But I wasn’t sure if I was on the level yet to win actually a Grand Slam, especially at the US Open where the surface is so fast.
“[Winning here] is something that I wasn’t expecting for sure. I’m proud, also surprised a little bit, just happy that I was able to do that. It’s also like a confirmation for me that the sky is the limit.”