Stuttgart champion Iga Swiatek expresses pride at World No. 1 ranking, calls it "an exciting time" in her career

Iga Swiatek recently stated that she is proud to have occupied the top of the WTA rankings for more than a year now, pointing to her consistency as one of the main reasons for it.

Swiatek ascended to the World No. 1 ranking after Ashleigh Barty surprised the tennis world by announcing her retirement early last year. The Pole is the 28th woman to reach the WTA summit, and the youngest player to make her No. 1 debut since Caroline Wozniacki in 2010.

Swiatek defeated Aryna Sabalenka on Sunday, April 23, in Stuttgart to successfully defend her Porsche Tennis Grand Prix title. It was her second singles trophy of 2023 and the 13th of her career.

Speaking at a press conference after the match, Iga Swiatek reflected on being ranked as the best WTA player for 55 consecutive weeks (and counting), stating that she was "pretty proud" of her consistency.

"I'm just pretty proud of my consistency, because when I was consistent on another level, it was nice, but this level kind of, it's over my expectations even. So last year was really, really tough, and I felt like this season may be tough, you know, because of what people are saying and expectations from the outside," she said.

The 21-year-old opined that she can now use her experience to pull herself up when things do not go her way, adding that being ranked No. 1 for this long made it "an exciting time" in her career.

"Now I feel like I just can use my experience a little bit more, more than like worry about stuff. I'm just happy that I'm World No. 1 for more than a year, and it's an exciting time," Iga Swiatek saidiwith a smile.

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A recap of Iga Swiatek's 2023 season so far

Iga Swiatek has a 19-4 win-loss record in 2023.

Iga Swiatek has made a pretty good start to her 2023 campaign. She currently has a 19-3 win-loss record, with two titles under her belt.

Swiatek began the year at the Australian Open, where she defeated Julie Niemeier, Camila Osorio and Cristina Busca before losing to eventual runner-up Elena Rybakina in the Round of 16. Later, at the Qatar Open, she defeated Danielle Collins, Belinda Bencic, Veronika Kudermetova and Jessica Pegula to clinch her first title of the year.

At the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, the Pole fell at the final hurdle to Barbora Kreijkova. She had defeated Leylah Fernandez, Liudmila Samsonova, Karolina Pliskova and Coco Gauff en route to the final.

The BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells saw Swiatek reach the semifinals, where she was defeated by Rybakina once again. However, she got over that disappointment by defeating Qinwen Zheng, Pliskova, Ons Jabeur and Aryna Sabalenka to defend her Stuttgart crown.