World No. 1 Iga Swiatek mounted a comeback to take down former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 6-1 to earn her 25th straight match win.
She now holds the longest winning streak since Serena Williams rattled off 27 straight wins in 2015.
The 20-year-old Swiatek went down 0-3 in the opening set before rallying back from a double break. Azarenka managed to generate 11 break points.
“I didn’t start well, and everybody could see that,” Swiatek said. “I’m really happy with the way I reacted and how I improved in the first set. Also how different the second set looked to the first one because I could really reset and really change the way I played. That’s the most positive thing for me.”
The opening set took 79 minutes, as Azarenka gave Swiatek everything that she had. She wiped out four set points with Swiatek serving at 5-3 and broke to regain the serve.
A 79-minute(!) opener 😅🇵🇱 @iga_swiatek grabs it from 0-3 down!#IBI22 pic.twitter.com/46VFJ1PDor— wta (@WTA) May 12, 2022
A 79-minute(!) opener 😅🇵🇱 @iga_swiatek grabs it from 0-3 down!#IBI22 pic.twitter.com/46VFJ1PDor
Throughout her 25-match win streak, Swiatek has won titles at Stuttgart, Indian Wells, Miami and Doha. She gained the No. 1 ranking in April following the retirement of Ash Barty.
Swiatek will face off against Bianca Andreescu in the quarterfinals after Andreescu defeated Petra Martic 6-4, 6-4. Andreescu is back into her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal in 14 months. She returned to action at Stuttgart last month after taking a mental health break.