Iga Swiatek was six weeks away from joining illustrious list before US Open loss

Four-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek was just six weeks away from cementing her name in tennis history, but a US Open defeat by Jelena Ostapenko saw her fall just short. The Polish star spent an incredible 75 weeks as the World No. 1 but failed to make it into the top 10 list of players with the most consecutive weeks at No.1 following her round-of-16 clash.

Swiatek’s defeat came against world No. 5 Ostapenko at the Arthur Ashe Stadium at Flushing Meadows. The 22-year-old started strongly to claim the first set 6-3, but ran out of steam losing the next two 3-6 and 1-6.

The defeat will see her drop off the world No. 1 spot for the first time in 75 weeks. The ranking will then be passed to Belarusian, Aryna Sabalenka, who won her first singles Grand Slam at the Australian Open in January.

Although the defeat will weigh heavily on Swiatek’s shoulders, so will the thought of coming close to a historic milestone. Her time at the top spot saw her come six weeks away from featuring in the top 10 of the most consecutive weeks at No. 1.

Swiatek’s closest competition in the chart is former Swiss player Martina Hingis who recorded a run of 80 weeks at the top. While the record would be an impressive achievement, Swiatek would still be way off the top spot.

Former tennis icons Setffi Graf, who won 23 Grand Slam titles, and Serena Williams, winning 39 overall, sit at the top with runs off 186 consecutive weeks.

Despite missing out on the record, Swiatek still has age on her side at just 22-years-old and still holds claim to becoming the first Polish No.1 in tennis history. Although she did admit that holding on to the record would have been ideal, saying “I would love to extend this record a little bit longer.”

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Following the result Swiatek reflected on what she would have changed. “There are plenty of things that I know I should have done differently,” she said. “Maybe I’m not mature enough yet to do that.

“I’m really working hard to not think about this stuff a lot. Sometimes when you force yourself not to think about stuff, the result is the opposite.”

Ostapenko is set to play American tennis star Coco Gauff in the quarterfinals tomorrow. The Latvian managed to reach the quarterfinals last year, her best finish at Flushing Meadows, and will be hoping to go one better this year.

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