"Serena does that, Big-3 do that" - Iga Swiatek stays humble in success, mentions legends to differ interviewer stating her 2022 glory is unparalleled

Iga Swiatek is currently in her 46th consecutive week as the World No. 1, but the young Pole has managed to stay humble despite all her glory. The 21-year-old rose to the top spot in April 2022, and hasn’t budged since, adding back-to-back trophies to her name to only solidify her position in the rankings.

Swiatek collected as many as eight titles in 2022, including two Grand Slams at the French Open and the US Open, four WTA 1000s in Qatar, Indian Wells, Miami and Rome, and two WTA 500s in Stuttgart and San Diego. She additionally featured in yet another WTA 500 final in Ostrava, where she finished as the runner-up.

When the 21-year-old was recently showered with high praise for her 2022 run by an interviewer after her Qatar Open match win, she begged to differ that her success in the past year was unparalleled.

“I mean, eight titles, two majors, nine finals. Iga, who does that?” the interviewer exclaimed.

Swiatek mentioned Serena Williams, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic as athletes who have consistently scored wins in huge numbers, while stating the she wasn’t the first player to earn such victories.

“I mean, Serena does that. The Big-3, they do that!,” she recalled.

In 2013, Serena Williams lifted as many as 11 trophies, including the French Open and the US Open, marking her most successful year of title wins.

Meanwhile, Roger Federer clinched 12 titles in 2006, including the Australian Open, the US Open and Wimbledon. Rafael Nadal collected 11 trophies in 2005, including the French Open. Similarly, Novak Djokovic’s 2015 run saw him bag 11 trophies, including Grand Slams in Melbourne, Wimbledon and New York.

"It was a pretty nice chapter, but I am really looking forward to next changes" – Iga Swiatek

Iga Swiatek holds the 2022 Qatar Open trophy

Iga Swiatek’s record-setting 2022 season will definitely go down in the history books as one of tennis’ finest. And while the young Pole acknowledged her 2022 success as a “nice chapter” in her career, she conveyed that she was more curious about her current 2023 season, which will see her defend over 10,000 points that she accumulated within the past year.

“Yeah. For me, it was a pretty nice chapter, but I am really looking forward, you know, to next changes. And, yeah the season was great, but also it puts a lot of baggage on one’s shoulders,” she said in the on-court interview after her Round of 16 win against Danielle Collins.

The 21-year-old said that she would rather not dwell on the past going forward.

“So I am trying to really kind of shake it off and move forward and not really come back to what happened last year,” she added.

Iga Swiatek scored a splendid victory over Danielle Collins at the Qatar Open, dismissing the 2022 Australian Open runner-up in straight sets, with a bagel and a breadstick – 6-0, 6-1.

The defending champion is now directly through to the last four of the tournament after her quarterfinal opponent Belinda Bencic's withdrawal. She now awaits the winner of Coco Gauff and Veronika Kudermetova in the semifinals.