Iga Świątek secures longest winning streak since Serena Williams in 2015

Iga Świątek has earned her 25th consecutive victory at the Italian Open, recording the longest winning streak since Serena Williams’s run in 2015.

The Polish star ground out a 6-4, 6-1 result against Victoria Azarenka, with the two-set scoreline not a true reflection of the competitive nature of the match.

In fact, it took Świątek one hour and 20 minutes to defeat Azarenka in the first set, before secuing her 25th successive victory in the second.

She has nearly caught up with the 27 straight wins recorded by Serena Williams in 2015, although the 20-year-old is still some way off the incredible 74 triumphs recorded by Martina Navratilova in 1984.

Nonetheless, Świątek has now joined an illustrious group of tennis players who have racked up 25 consecutive wins, which includes Venus Williams, Serena Williams, Justine Henin, Azarenka, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.

Świątek will now play Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 US Open champion, in the Italian Open round of 16.

She will be seeking her fourth WTA 1000 title and fifth consecutive WTA title of the year, having won the Qatar Open, Indian Wells, Miami Open and Stuttgart Open.

Indeed, Świątek is in scincillating form, and rose up to world number one following the retirement of Ashleigh Barty in March.

WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW25 CONSECUTIVE WINS for World No.1 @iga_swiatek! pic.twitter.com/TkB39sqLTW

Andreescu defeated Croatia’s Petra Martic 6-4 6-4 to reach the last eight. It will be her first quarter-final since she took a six-month break to overcome mental health struggles.

Earlier in the week, the Canadian spoke about returning to the tennis court.

“I’m very happy with everything,” Andreescu said. “Basically I feel like I’m very committed, I’m