Iga Swiatek made a winning start to her Miami Open campaign and she is now also the player with the most consecutive opening wins at the WTA 1000 level, beating the previous record that was held by Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka.
On Friday, the 23-year-old Pole – who had a first-round bye – ousted 2022 WTA Finals champion Caroline Garcia 6-2 7-5 to progress into the Miami third round. For the current world No. 2, it was her 25th opening win in a row in the WTA 1000 category tournaments.
Before Swiatek, Williams and Azarenka shared the record with 23 consecutive opening victories.
25 – Since the format’s introduction in 2009, Iga Swiatek is the first player to win 25 consecutive opening matches at WTA-1000 events. Smooth. #MiamiOpen | @MiamiOpen @WTA @WTA_insider pic.twitter.com/pzWVhP1iLb
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) March 21, 2025
Since becoming a WTA 1000 champion in 2021 Rome, the Polish tennis star has been to 11 more WTA 1000 finals and she has 10 titles from that category in her collection. When it comes to the ongoing Miami Open, she has one title there as she lifted the trophy three years ago. Overall, the 23-year-old has been consistently delivering at the WTA 1000 level for years now.
Swiatek experienced a bit of trouble against Garcia in her Miami opener
After easily bagging the first set and also starting the second set with a break in the very first game, the former world No. 1 lost her serve in back-to-back games. Later, Garcia also had a set point at 5-4 before the Pole saved it and went on to complete a two-set win.
Later, Swiatek candidly admitted that her energy dropped after she opened a comfortable lead.
“My energy level got down really fast. So I tried to wake myself up, keep the intensity from the first set, follow through and go for it,” the world No. 2 admitted.
For Swiatek, the most important thing was that she avoided any major drama against Garcia. She plays Elise Mertens in the Miami third round.
Tennis World USA