All week we’ve been counting down our Top 5 Stats of the Year, starting with Barbora Krejcikova pulling off a historic Top 3 sweep in Dubai, Coco Gauff becoming the first U.S. teenager to win the US Open this century and Carlos Alcaraz ending a more-than-two-decade-long Big 4 domination at Wimbledon.
Coming in at No. 2 today, Iga Swiatek joins a very exclusive club.
With her thrilling 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 victory over Karolina Muchova in the Roland Garros final this year, Swiatek improved to 4-0 in her career in Grand Slam finals, making her just the third woman in the Open Era—and fourth player in the Open Era, male or female—to win their first four Grand Slam finals.
PLAYERS TO WIN FIRST 4+ MAJOR FINALS IN OPEN ERA:
Roger Federer: won first 7 [2003 Wimbledon, 2004 Australian Open, 2004 Wimbledon, 2004 US Open, 2005 Wimbledon, 2005 US Open, 2006 Australian Open]
Monica Seles: won first 6 [1990 Roland Garros, 1991 Australian Open, 1991 Roland Garros, 1991 US Open, 1992 Australian Open, 1992 Roland Garros]
Naomi Osaka: won first 4 so far [2018 US Open, 2019 Australian Open, 2020 US Open, 2021 Australian Open]
Iga Swiatek: won first 4 so far [2020 Roland Garros, 2022 Roland Garros, 2022 US Open, 2023 Roland Garros]
Swiatek is the first woman in the Open Era to win the first seven sets she played in Grand Slam finals.
Swiatek is the first woman in the Open Era to win the first seven sets she played in Grand Slam finals.
And there’s more: Swiatek is actually the first woman in the Open Era to win the first seven sets she played in Grand Slam finals.
She won her first three major finals in straight sets, over Sofia Kenin at 2020 Roland Garros, 6-4, 6-1, Coco Gauff at 2022 Roland Garros, 6-1, 6-3, and Ons Jabeur at the 2022 US Open, 6-2, 7-6 (5).
She then won the first set of the 2023 Roland Garros final against Muchova, 6-2, and even built a 3-0 lead in the second set, before Muchova ended up pushing the match to three sets.
Check back tomorrow for our No. 1 Stat of the Year…
