Iga Swiatek hits two staggering top 10 win milestones as Poland reach United Cup final

Oli Dickson Jefford 04 Jan 2025 9:33 AM

Iga Swiatek during her match

Iga Swiatek’s impressive record against top 10 opponents continued with victory over key rival Elena Rybakina at the United Cup.

In a pulsating and high-quality clash in Syndey, the world No 2 rallied from an early break down to defeat Rybakina 7-6(5), 6-4.

Swiatek’s triumph, coupled with Hubert Hurkacz’s win over Alexander Shevchenko in the men’s singles rubber, helped Poland defeat Kazakhstan 3-0 to reach a second straight final at the mixed team event.

“I’m for sure happy with my performance, especially because I didn’t start well,” said Swiatek.

“You know, it’s not so easy to come back against a player as confident as Elena. I pushed myself to the limit. I told myself: ‘I’m not going to miss anymore.’

“So at the end, in the second set, I was able to keep it, even though for sure I felt pressure when I was closing the match, but I’m super happy with my game – because it’s the first time I was able to win against her on faster surface.

“I think it’s a nice step forward. Obviously, you know, every match with her is always hard and will be, but for sure it gives me, like, confidence and more hope.”

Swiatek’s victory was a third in her career versus the Kazakh, having trailed 2-4 in their head-to-head coming into this clash.

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However, having won the first set, history suggested that the five-time Grand Slam winner was in the driving seat.

By closing out the win against the world No 6, Swiatek has now won an astonishing 34 straight matches against top 10 opposition when she has taken the first set.

Victory against Rybakina was also the 45th top 1o win of her career, all recorded since her breakthrough win over Simona Halep on her way to the French Open title in 2010.

The 23-year-old now holds an impressive 45-19 win-loss record against WTA top 10 opponents, a win rate of 70.3%.

That places Swiatek fourth among WTA players with the best top 10 win percentage record over the past forty years, and makes her one of just four players with a top 10 win percentage over 70%.

Only all-time greats Steffi Graf (77.2%), Martina Navratilova (74.6%), and Serena Williams (70.9%) have achieved a better record against top 10 opponents than the Pole as things stand.

Fifth-placed Chris Evert has a top 10 win percentage of 62.1%.

Swiatek also now holds an impressive 12-1 record in United Cup singles action, with her only loss coming against America’s Jessica Pegula in the semi-finals of the inaugural 2023 event.

The Pole has won nine straight singles matches in the competition since then, and will look to help guide Poland to a first title on Sunday.

The nation was defeated 2-1 by Germany in the final 12 months ago.