'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Tennis fans were elated to find out that Iga Swiatek has emerged as the most googled female athlete.
Swiatek recently won the China Open to take her titles tally for the 2023 season to five. She lifted her season's first trophy at the Qatar Open in February and won the second at the Stuttgart Open two months later.
In June, the 22-year-old secured her fourth Grand Slam title in the form of the French Open before taking home the Poland Open trophy in July. Her first two Major trophies came at Roland Garros as well but she won the 2022 US Open in September last year to stamp her authority on hardcourts.
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The World No. 2 recently topped the list of most searched female athletes on Google for the September 2022-August 2023 period, owing to the immense success. She amassed a staggering 15.6 million searches to her name followed by colleagues Coco Gauff (10.6 million), and Emma Raducanu (9.6 million).
Iga Swiatek has topped the chart despite being labeled by pundits as "unmarketable" in the past for getting fewer sponsorship deals than her contemporaries. A tennis buff on the internet rubbished the label, writing:
"Where are those saying she is not marketable now?!! Come here see it for yourself come come."
Another fan pointed at the gap between Pole and Raducanu, who is in third place, and wrote:
"Way ahead of Raducanu in the Google stakes. Not as popular as her ridiculous fans would lead you to believe."
Raducanu became a household name after she won the 2021 US Open title at the tender age of 18. She bagged numerous sponsorship deals and was placed fourth in Forbes' highest-paid female athletes for 2022. Swiatek, who finished fifth on the list, has however bettered the Brit this year.
Another fan praised the four-time Grand Slam champion writing:
"Iga is truly a Taylor Swift of sport."
Here are a few more reactions from X (formerly Twitter):
Iga Swiatek is in Mexico ahead of the WTA Finals
Iga Swiatek landed in Cancun, Mexico, ahead of the WTA Finals scheduled to begin on Sunday, October 29. She will soon be joined by Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina, Jessica Pegula, Ons Jabeur, Marketa Vondrousova, and Maria Sakkari.
The Pole would be determined to improve her past performances at the year-end championships on the back of a successful China Open campaign in Bejing. She showed promise last year as she remained invincible in the round-robin stage but was shown the door by Sabalenka in the semifinal.
In 2021, Iga Swiatek failed to qualify for the knockout stage owing to a poor show in the group stage. Out of the three matches she played in Guadalajara, Mexico, Swiatek suffered defeats in two against Sakkari and Sabalenka. The only encounter she won was the one against Spain's Paula Badosa.
