Iga Swiatek wore a big smile on her face as she returned to her bench. She opened her kit bag and fetched a white jumper, as she has done many times during the course of the French Open. But there was something different about this particular white selection. On the left was printed the word ‘1GA,’ which is a play on World No 1 Iga, and right under two gold stars – one for each Grand Slam title the 21-year-old has won. One for each title at Roland Garros. A few minutes later, she walked up onto the makeshift podium at Court Philippe-Chatrier with that clean white sweatshirt on, to lift the Coupe Suzanne-Lenglen for the second time in her career after defeating 18-year-old Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-3 in a women’s singles final that lasted 68 minutes. That second golden star on the shirt is a marker for a sentiment that’s been prevalent around Swiatek for many months now – that the 21-year-old could well be the one to dominate the women’s tour in the months ahead. In these past few years of women’s tennis, there has not been anybody who has consistently stepped up to stake a claim at the No 1 spot for the long term. Since Serena Williams went on maternity break in 2017, Naomi Osaka and Ashleigh Barty did briefly take up the World No 1 spot and looked likely to occupy that rank and claim the treasures of the tour for years to come. While Osaka’s yet to regain the form that saw her get to four Major wins, Barty decided to unexpectedly retire from the sport at a peak. And once the Australian – the only other active female player apart from Williams to have won Grand Slams on three different surfaces – hung up her racquet, the vacant World No 1 spot went to then second placed Swiatek. The Pole did have some reservations about taking up that spot when she get to the top on April 4. “I never really imagined that moment because, truth be told, I was working day-by-day and playing tennis well, but I never had the strong belief that it can actually happen,” Swiatek had said then. “So it’s even more surreal for me.”
