Iga Swiatek beats F1 world champion Max Verstappen and others to win 'Athlete of the Year' award

Iga Swiatek has added another remarkable feat to her 2022, as she has been named the 'Athlete of the year' by PAP Poll.

Swiatek won eight tournaments in 2022, including two Grand Slams at the US Open and Roland Garros. She ended the year with a 67-9 win/loss record and the No. 1 WTA ranking.

According to Poliskieradio, the Polish superstar defeated the likes of F1 world champion Max Verstappen and world record holder for vertical jump Armand Duplantis to take home the 'Athlete of the Year' honor. The poll features votes from 20 press agencies in Europe.

Before the 21-year-old, there were only three Polish athletes to have been named the 'Athlete of the year' by PAP Poll. Those were football icon Robert Lewandowski in 2020, long jumper Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak in 1958, and former Olympian Irena Szewińska in 1966 and 1974.

"My main goal is to continue what I’ve been doing last year" - Iga Swiatek on her 2023 goals

Iga Swiatek of Kites reacts while playing against Elena Rybakina of Hawks at the World Tennis League

In a recent interview, Iga Swiatek asserted that she would like to continue with her form from the 2022 season and take it to 2023. She mentioned that she was aware that anything could happen in tennis but wanted to have consistency in her results.

"My main goal is to continue what I’ve been doing last year and not really come back to all these matches that I played, because that may really kind of make me lazy," Iga Swiatek said.

"But still focus on just the next one and remember that in tennis anything can happen in any tournament. I just want to keep being consistent. But the specific goals I think they’re going to come when I’m going to be closer to the tournament. It’s kind of weird because I’ve never been in such a situation where I had such a great season. So for sure I need to approach next year a little bit differently," Swiatek added.

The World No. 1 also mentioned that she does not mind being pushed to the limit and that she would welcome a rival to challenge her during the season.

"I think we all need somebody who is going to push ourselves to the limit. For sure rivalry is welcome, I can totally take a lot from that. So I think it’s great that we have so many people we can compete against," she said.