Swiatek defends Rome title, stretching winning streak to 28 with win over Jabeur

World No 1 Iga Swiatek continued her trend of breathtaking title runs on Sunday in Rome, completing a successful title defense at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia by defeating Ons Jabeur, 6-2, 6-2.

With the triumph, the 20-year-old Pole stretches her winning streak to 28 matches and improves to 35-3 on the season. Swiatek, who has won 42 of her last 43 sets contested, has now won her last eight finals and dropped an average of 3.5 games in those eight finals. At Rome she dropped just 21 games – the fewest since Serena Williams dropped just 14 in 2013.

Swiatek becomes the third youngest player to win her second title at Rome, eclipsed only by Chris Evert and Gabriela Sabatini in that department.

Swiatek – Tiramisu to celebrate and no limits

Swiatek hit nine winners against eight unforced errors in the contest, while Jabeur hit 19 winners and 26 unforced errors. The Tunisian saw her 11-match winning streak snapped as she falls to 2-2 lifetime against Swiatek.

“It was so nice to play here,” Swiatek said to the crowd at the Foro Italico. “Today I’m going to celebrate with a lot of tiramisu, with no regrets.”

Jabeur, the WTA’s leader in clay-court wins with 17 in 2022, rallied from 4-0 down in the second set and had four break points to get back on serve in the seventh game, but Swiatek turned up the quality to hold her off. The Pole took the final two games to close out her victory in one hour and 22 minutes.

Swiatek did not face a break point in a dominant opening set, but was forced to save six of seven break points in the second set as Jabeur upped her level.

“I want to thank my team and my family,” Swiatek said. “You are with me every week and I know it’s pretty tiring sometimes, especially with me – I’m pretty tough. Hopefully this is going to give you joy and some belief that we can go without limits.”

Swiatek’s winning streak – longest since 2008

Swiatek’s run of 28 consecutive wins dates back to a loss to Jelena Ostapenko in Dubai this February. She now holds the tour’s longest winning streak since Serena Williams reeled off 34 wins in 2013.

WTA longest winning streaks since 2000

• Serena Williams, 35, 2000
• Serena Williams, 34, 2013
• Justine Henin, 32, 2008
• Iga Swiatek, 28, 2022

The Pole has not lost a match since she claimed the No 1 ranking for the first time, on April 4.

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