Iga Swiatek beats Naomi Osaka in the Miami Open final. She became the first female tennis player to win the first three WTA 1000 championships of the year. With a 6-4 6-0 triumph over Osaka, the Polish 20-year-old will take over Ash Barty’s World No. 1 ranking. She didn’t drop a set the entire week in Miami, and she’s now won 17 straight matches right back to her title run at the Qatar Open in February.
Swiatek is only the fourth woman to clasp back-to-back Indian Wells and Miami tournaments. This achievement is known as the “Sunshine Double” because of the tournaments’ locations in California and Florida, respectively. The others achieving the feat include Victoria Azarenka in 2016, Kim Clijsters in 2005, and Steffi Graf in 1994, and 1996.
Swiatek is the fourth woman to win the “Sunshine Double”
“These weeks were so intense I didn’t really know if I would be able to keep up with the streak that I have,” said Swiatek. “It’s amazing for me that I could show mental toughness because my whole life I thought I could do more and sometimes I was losing and I didn’t even know why. This season I feel like everything clicked so it’s great and I am really happy,” she added.
In a tense 10-minute game to begin the match, Naomi Osaka held serve admirably. The match began with a frenetic seven-deuce first game in which four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka averted two breakpoints and blasted down four aces to hold serve. Iga Swiatek amped up her game in the second set. She shattered Osaka three times to race out to a 5-0 lead. She never glanced back, winning the 79-minute match on her first championship point when Osaka sent a forehand long. Even though Naomi couldn’t do much against a tenacious Swiatek after that, she kept her head high.
“I haven’t been in this position for a little minute,” said the 24-year-old.”I know this isn’t the outcome that you guys wanted but I am having a lot of fun out here so I hope that I can keep working hard and get more opportunities to be in a situation like this again.”