Iga Swiatek’s ability to win sets in crushing fashion has put her alongside some of the greats of the game.
The world No 1 notched up another 6-0 set in her victory over the Czech Republic’s Linda Noskova at Indian Wells, with statistics confirming Swiatek’s consistency in winning sets without dropping a game is comparable with the all-time greats of tennis.
In the open were of tennis, Swiatek is fifth on the list of players who have record 6-0 sets, with a staggering 10.8 per-cent of the Polish star’s sets finishing with the opponent failing to win a single game.
German legend Steffi Graf was also clinical in denying opponents a chance to win a set, as she won 10.9 per-cent of her sets with a zero next to the name of her opponent.
Next on the list is 24-time Grand Slam champion Margaret Court, who won 13.2 per-cent of her sets 6-0, while tennis icon Chris Evert had a record of winning 14.6 per-cent of her sets in the most convincing fashion possible.
British great Ann Jones specialised in winning sets 6-0 as 16 per-cent of her matches included a flawless six games, with Swiatek in very special company as she dishes out what is known in tennis as a bagel.
It has sparked regular comments that Swiatek is the queen of the bakery as she continues to serve up bagels to her rivals, but the 22-year-old is not keen to entertain that kind of talk.
“From players’ point of view, I want to kind of be respectful to my opponents and you don’t see the stuff that is behind the scenes,” said Swiatek.
“Sometimes it’s not easy to play such matches and sometimes it’s not easy also for the opponents. I don’t want to talk about the ‘bakery.’ Twitter can talk about it but I’m just going to be focused on tennis.”
Swiatek is clearly a player who thrives on momentum and in her current tournament at Indian Wells a pattern has emerged that highlights how hard she is to stop when she is on a roll.
The four-time Grand Slam champion won nine games in succession as she beat Danielle Collins and reeled off ten straight games to beat Noskova.
When asked how it feels to be in such control of an opponent, she insisted that mindset is not how it translates to her on court.
“I wouldn’t say I felt like I’m in a roll, because I was still, you know, so focused because I know that both of these players can easily, you know, switch the momentum back, especially Danielle. She’s pretty unpredictable,” added Swiatek.
“So I was constantly on my toes. Even when I had 5-0 in the second set, I kind of just imagined that I’m still in the middle of the match, and I had some thoughts about, oh, soon I may win, but I shut them down to not think that way and just get back to work, because it’s not going to win itself on its own.”
The odds on sets finishing 6-0 at the highest level of the game tend to be quite long, but Swiatek is in a league of her own in the modern game for finishing off opponents when she has them on the ropes.
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