Iga Swiatek reaches Italian Open final with 27th consecutive win
Iga Swiatek extended her run of dominance to 27 consecutive wins Saturday with a 6-2, 6-1 thrashing of Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals of the Italian Open.
Swiatek, 20, inherited the world No. 1 ranking in women's tennis when Ashleigh Barty abruptly and surprisingly retired from the sport in March, two months after winning the Australian Open. In Barty's absence, Swiatek has been unstoppable.
Over the course of her 27-match win streak, the WTA's longest since Serena Williams won 27 straight in 2014 and 2015, Swiatek has played in a third set just five times. Her win against Sabalenka, the eighth ranked player in the world, took just 76 minutes.
The win was nearly identical to Swiatek's 6-2, 6-2 rout of Sabalenka in the final of the Stuttgart Open in April.
Swiatek's streak is tied for the fourth longest in women's singles since 2000 but still well behind the all-time record of 74 consecutive matches won by Martina Navratilova in 1984. She will face either Ons Jabeur or Daria Kasatkina in the Italian Open final on Sunday.
More must-reads: