Tennis: Poland’s Świątek starts week 56 as WTA world No. 1

Poland's Iga Świątek has started her 56th week at the top of the Women's Tennis Association's (WTA) world rankings after winning her second singles title of the season.

Iga Świątek poses with her trophy after winning the 2023 Stuttgart Open.

Photo: EPA/RONALD WITTEK

The Pole on Sunday cruised past Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus to win the Stuttgart Open tournament in Germany, defending her crown and claiming her 13th career singles title.

BACK-TO-BACK IN STUTTGART 🚗🏆🚙

World No.1 @iga_swiatek defends her #PorscheTennis title with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Sabalenka, clinching a 13th trophy on the Hologic WTA Tour! pic.twitter.com/elTvJdvB2h

— wta (@WTA) April 23, 2023

Świątek defeated Sabalenka 6-3, 6-4 at the clay-court tournament to win a back-to-back trophy in Stuttgart.

🏆This feeling...it's something else this time…after many challenges during these last couple of weeks I’m so grateful to my team and our work. We will enjoy and cherish this one and then we will put even more work to move forward. pic.twitter.com/TEJIKBMpS0

— Iga Świątek (@iga_swiatek) April 23, 2023

The Polish tennis ace last year dispatched Sabalenka 6-2, 6-2 in the championship match at the Stuttgart Open.

STRG+C, STRG+V#PorscheTennis #PTGP23 @iga_swiatek @WTA pic.twitter.com/JY5imJB7NB

— Porsche Tennis (@PorscheTennis) April 23, 2023

The 21-year-old Pole, coached by countryman Tomasz Wiktorowski, has topped the Women's Tennis Association's (WTA) world rankings since April 4, 2022.

She now leads the world rankings with 8,975 points, ahead of Sabalenka, with 6,891 points, and American Jessica Pegula, with 5,735 points.

𝙄𝙜𝙖 𝙎́𝙬𝙞𝙖̨𝙩𝙚𝙠 wygrała turniej w #Stuttgart i przenosi się na korty do Madrytu:

𝙆𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙯 𝙡𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙠𝙞 𝙒𝙏𝘼:
🇪🇸 WTA 1000 Madryt: 25 kwietnia - 7 maja
🇮🇹 WTA 1000 Rzym: 9-20 maja
🇫🇷 Roland Garros: 28 maja - 11 czerwca

⤵️
WIĘCEJ 🎾https://t.co/E2R49Flajy pic.twitter.com/ddB9cN0Yh6

— Sport PR (@sportradiopl) April 24, 2023

Świątek in February won the Qatar Open tournament in Doha.

(gs)

Source: PAP