Iga Swiatek conquers Rome once again

World number one Iga Swiatek successfully defended her Italian Open title as she dominated her final clash with Ons Jabeur.

Following her 6-2 6-2 victory, the 20-year-old has racked up an unbelievable 28 straight wins, and five consecutive titles, having not participated in the recent Madrid Open in order to recover from a shoulder injury – a tournament that was won by her opponent in Rome.

Swiatek started strongly in both sets as she refused to allow her opponent to build up any sort of rhythm.

After a very challenging route to the final, Jabeur could be forgiven for seeming a little fatigued as she entered the grand finale with the Pole, and Swiatek was simply not to be beaten.

Despite the loss, the Tunisian sees herself shoot up the rankings to a career high world number six.

Iga Swiatek has only been ranked number one in the world for a short period of time, aided by the shock retirement of Ashleigh Barty, but the burden of such a crown does not appear to be weighing on the young star, as she continues to string together outstanding performances.

To not only win every game since mid-February, but to also do so while only losing one set, is a near miraculous feat

She now sits fourth in the list of longest winning streaks since 2000, squeaking past Serena Williams on 27, and also equals her American counterpart with five straight tournament wins.

Swiatek’s rise to stardom has been quite astounding, but it is very much on merit that she sits atop the pile as things stand.

Following the final, the Pole commented that she would “celebrate with a lot of tiramisu”, before adding “see you at the French Open”.

The tournament in Paris, which begins this week, presents Swiatek with the opportunity to win her second Grand Slam title, having already done so at the age of 19.

For the woman that “cried for 40 minutes” following Ash Barty’s retirement, she is certainly living up to the standards set by her predecessor.

Although Swiatek wishes “they could all [have] play[ed] until they were 35”, she will definitely be relishing the moment, and is the outstanding favourite to come out on top in Paris this week.

While it is a shame that we will not get to see a titanic rivalry blossom between the current and former world number ones, we should not take Swiatek’s brilliance for granted.

To not only win every game since mid-February, but to also do so while only losing one set, is a near miraculous feat, and if Barty’s retirement taught us anything, it is that careers in sport can be fleeting. Let us appreciate an extremely talented young star already at the pinnacle of her game while we still can.