Polish tennis star Iga Swiatek defeats Naomi Osaka to win Miami Open

Polish tennis star Iga Swiatek continued her dominance on Saturday with straight sets 6-4, 6-0 win over Japanese star Naomi Osaka to win the Miami Open. After Swiateks recent victory at the Indian Wells tournament, and then the sudden retirement of Ashleigh Barty, who held the No.1 spot, she will now be the favorite for the best in the women's game after her performance at the Miami Open.

Swiatek becomes the fourth woman to win the Sunshine double- both the Indian Wells, and Miami Open tournaments, with Belaurasian tennis star Victoria Azarenka being the most recent one to do it in 2016. She also became the first player to ever win three Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) 1000 tournaments in a season.

The new WTA rankings came out this past Monday, and had Swiatek ranked No.1 with 6,711 points, almost 2,000 more than second place Czech tennis player, Barbora Krejcikova.

This makes Swiatek the first Polish tennis player, men or women, to be ranked at the top in singles tennis. After Swiatek’s victory, the 20-year-old thanked the crowd, her personnel, and sent a message to Ukraine by saying “Stay Strong.”

Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam Champion herself, who was playing in her first final since she won the Australian Open in 2021 had high praise for the young upcomer by stating, "Watching your journey is really incredible, I hope you continue having fun."

Having fun is exactly what Swiatek is doing, and if she continues to elevate her game, who knows how much more dominant she can become as her career progresses.