'No worthy competitor' - As Iga Swiatek hits 60 wins, what comes next ahead of Qinwen Zheng clash in San Diego?

The end of the 2022 season is in sight. On the WTA Tour, just three standout events remain – San Diego, Guadalajara and the WTA Finals – before the curtain comes down. Only when the Finals have been played will it be possible to take complete stock of the season, but whatever happens over the next four weeks, this has already been Iga Swiatek’s season.

If you need any reminder of just how dominant Swiatek has been on the WTA Tour in 2022 you need only look at the rankings and the enormous 5,600-point gap between Swiatek and world No. 2 Ons Jabeur. Ad Swiatek has been in a league of her own.

Tennis'Serena proved you can have both' – Williams paved the way for mothers in tennis, says Navratilova07/10/2022 AT 11:38 Such supremacy has not been seen on the tour in some time. Ashleigh Barty was good, but not this good over a season. Before Barty, Naomi Osaka won four Grand Slams but didn’t have the high-level consistency of Swiatek.

Even Angelique Kerber’s 2016 season, when won two Grand Slams, reached the final of another, was runner-up at the WTA Finals and reached world No. 1, almost pales in comparison against Swiatek’s achievements in 2022. Swiatek has won seven titles, including the French Open and US Open, and had one of the all-time great winning runs earlier in the year when she reeled off 37 victories in a row.

At the Ostrava Open last week, where she lost a thrilling final against Barbora Krejcikova, Swiatek tallied her 60th victory of the year. She is the first woman to reach the mark since Caroline Wozniacki in 2017. With a month of the 2022 season left to play, Swiatek is likely to soar past Kerber’s 63 wins in 2016.