This Day, That Year – May 31

This day in history we feature Iga Świątek. The first professional tennis player representing Poland to win a major singles title was born on this day in 2001.

Trivia – Iga Swiatek

Iga Świątek is currently ranked world No. 1 in women’s singles by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA). Świątek is a three-time major singles champion, having won the French Open in 2020 and 2022 and the US Open in 2022. She is the first player representing Poland to win a major singles title. She has won a total of 13 WTA Tour-level titles.

Related read – Iga Swiatek enters her first Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships 2023 final

Świątek’s father Tomasz is a retired Olympic rower. As a junior, Świątek was the 2018 French Open girls’ doubles champion alongside Caty McNally and the 2018 Wimbledon girls’ singles champion. Świątek began playing regularly on the WTA Tour in 2019, and entered the top 50 at 18 years old after her maiden WTA final and a fourth-round appearance at the 2019 French Open. During her French Open title run in 2020, Świątek did not lose more than five games in any singles match. She entered the top ten of the WTA rankings for the first time in May 2021 after winning the Italian Open. Following back-to-back WTA 1000 titles in 2022 at Qatar and Indian Wells, Świątek reached a career-high ranking of No. 2 on 21 March 2022. On retirement of world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty, she gained the top ranking on 4 April 2022. She also won another WTA 1000 title in Miami, becoming the fourth woman to win the Sunshine Double. During this time, Świątek accumulated a 37-match winning streak, the longest on the WTA Tour in the 21st century. Świątek has an all-court playing style. She won the WTA Fan Favorite Shot of the Year in 2019 with a drop shot from the baseline, and was voted WTA Fan Favorite Singles Player of the Year in 2020. She is the 2023 winner of the L’Equipe Champion of Champions and 2023 Polish Sports Personality of the Year. She was also included on Time’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2023. Since 2021 Świątek has been involved with The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity. She has put up her winning racket from final of her first French Open. In 2022, while playing at the Australian Open, she put up another racket this time from final of Italian Open. In 2023, Świątek has put up her winning racket with which she won both US Open and French Open in 2022, besides the racket she also included double invitation to her first round match in Roland Garros 2023 and an opportunity to meet her in person behind the scenes after the match. Świątek and her team have also been taking part in the Noble Gift project since 2020. It helps to provide families that have found themselves in difficult financial circumstances for reasons beyond their control during the Christmas period. Świątek also took part in auction for SOS Children’s Villages- Poland, putting up her autographed cap from Miami Open. On 10 October 2021, Świątek donated $50,000 of her prize money in support of World Mental Health Day. On 9 October 2022, Świątek announced she will donate all of her prize money (€58,032) won in the tournament to Polish non-profit organizations and foundations to celebrate World Mental Health Day. On 23 July 2022, Świątek hosted a charity tennis event in Kraków, Poland to raise funds for children and teenagers impacted by the war in Ukraine. Swiatek later announced on Twitter that the event has raised over 2,5 mln złoty (over €500,000), which would be spread between United 24, Elina Svitolina Foundation and UNICEF Poland. On 9 January 2023, Świątek took to Twitter and Instagram to announce that her ‘Iga & Friends’ and ‘1ga’ T-shirts will be available for sale at Allegro Charity, where she and UNICEF Poland have once again joined forces to raise funds for children in war-torn Ukraine. On 11 January, Świątek once again announced on her social media platforms that she will be auctioning off her US Open winning gear and French Open shoes, among others all proceeds would also be going straight to UNICEF.

Source – Wikipedia