Iga Swiatek hits 21st bagel and reaches 10,000 points in San Diego to close on Serena Williams records

The 2022 tennis season might nearly be done, but Iga Swiatek is still serving up bagels.

Swiatek’s latest bagels came in the quarter-finals of the San Diego Open against world No. 8 Coco Gauff and final against Donna Vekic. She has also won three 6-0 sets in finals this season (Qatar Open, Miami Open, San Diego Open) and has recorded seven at Grand Slams.

Swiatek’s bagel sets so far in 2022 are:

• vs Harriet Dart 6-3 6-0 (Australian Open first round)
• vs Daria Kasatkina 6-3 6-0 (Qatar Open last 16)
• vs Anett Kontaveit 6-2 6-0 (Qatar Open final)
• vs Anhelina Kalinina 5-7 6-0 6-1 (Indian Wells second round)
• vs Madison Keys 6-1 6-0 (Indian Wells quarter-finals)
• vs Viktorija Golubic 6-2 6-0 (Miami Open second round)
• vs Madison Brengle 6-0 6-3 (Miami Open third round)
• vs Naomi Osaka 6-4 6-0 (Miami Open final)
• vs Andreea Prisacariu 6-0 6-0 (Billie Jean King Cup qualifier)
• vs Mihaela Buzarnescu 6-1 6-0 (Billie Jean King Cup qualifier)
• vs Elena-Gabriela Ruse 6-3 6-0 (Italian Open second round)
• vs Bianca Andreescu 7-6 6-0 (Italian Open quarter-finals)
• vs Lesia Tsurenko 6-2 6-0 (French Open first round)
• vs Alison Riske 6-0 6-2 (French Open second round)
• vs Qinwen Zheng 6-7 6-0 6-2 (French Open last 16)
• vs Jana Fett 6-0 6-3 (Wimbledon first round)
• vs Jasmine Paolini 6-3 6-0 (US Open first round)
• vs Jule Niemeier 2-6 6-4 6-0 (US Open last 16)
• vs Coco Gauff 6-0 6-3 (San Diego Open quarter-finals)
• vs Donna Vekic 6-3 3-6 6-0 (San Diego Open final)

Can Swiatek get close to Williams’ record of 25? It seems improbable given the only tournament remaining on her schedule is the WTA Finals, where bagel sets might be harder to come by than anywhere else on the calendar.

But she surpassed another landmark this week, becoming the first woman to hit 10,000 ranking points in a season since Williams in 2013. Swiatek is on 10,835 points after winning the San Diego Open.

The only other women to pass 10,000 points this century are Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova. Swiatek has the chance to hit 12,335 if she wins the WTA Finals after going unbeaten in her group. That would take her past Azarenka’s total of 10,595 from 2012 and behind only Williams, who stacked up 13,260 points in 2013 when she won 11 titles, including the French Open, US Open and WTA Finals. Swiatek would also have another 130 points on her total if Wimbledon points were counted this season.

Swiatek said during her run to the title in San Diego that she did not expect to have such a successful season.

“It’s pretty amazing. I wasn’t expecting to have this kind of season this year. I thought, maybe, I’m going to be at my peak when I’m 24, 25, and have that experience, maybe results like that are going to come.

“I’m pretty happy that I’m able to give my all right now and to play well and to be in that place. As I said in Ostrava my dreams are coming true. So I’m pretty proud of myself and the team. That they are preparing me and I am able to play good until the end of the season.”

Swiatek will now have a fortnight off before the WTA Finals in Fort Worth, Texas. That will be her final event of the season as she is not playing the Billie Jean King Cup Finals.

Why isn’t Swiatek playing the Billie Jean King Cup Finals?

Swiatek helped Poland reach the Billie Jean King Cup finals with two straight-set wins in qualifying in April, but she will not be at the tournament’s showpiece in Glasgow.

The world No. 1 opted to withdraw from the finals due to the quick turnaround after the WTA Finals, which finish in Texas on Monday, November 7. A player involved in the final would have just one day to travel to Glasgow to make the Billie Jean King Cup Finals.

Swiatek has criticised the scheduling of the two tournaments, which are run by the WTA (WTA Finals) and International Tennis Federation (Billie Jean King Cup Finals).

“I’m disappointed that tennis governing bodies didn’t come to an agreement on something as basic as the calendar of tournaments, giving us only one day to travel through the globe and changing the time zone.

“The situation is not safe for our health and could cause injury. I’m going to talk to the WTA and ITF in order to change something. This situation is difficult not only for the players like me, but mainly for the tennis fans that support our sport.”