Iga Swiatek downs Naomi Osaka to make history in Miami

Iga Swiatek completed the coveted ‘Sunshine Double’ in Miami by beating Japan’s Naomi Osaka in straight sets in the final.  

The 20-year-old Polish sensation Swiatek stormed past the two-time Australian Open champion Osaka 6-4, 6-0 in just one hour and 19 minutes to claim her maiden title in Miami.

She is only the fourth player in WTA history to be victorious at both Indian Wells and Miami in the same season after Steffi Graf (1994, 1996), Kim Clijsters (2005) and Victoria Azarenka (2016) – also making her the youngest player to ever win the ‘Sunshine Double’.

After winning in Qatar and claiming her first Indian Wells Masters title last week, it is the third 1000 tournament Iga Swiatek has won in a row on the WTA circuit. This is the first time any woman has done that at the start of a campaign, and is now unbeaten in 17 matches.

Following the match, Swiatek praised her own mental fortitude to be able to cope with such an ‘intense’ past few weeks.

“These weeks were so intense I didn’t really know if I would able to keep up with the streak that I have,” she explained. “It’s amazing for me that I could show mental toughness because my whole life I thought I could do more and sometimes I was losing and I didn’t even know why. This season I feel like everything clicked so it’s great and I am really happy.”

To cap off a hugely successful week, Swiatek will become the new World number one on Monday following the retirement of Ashleigh Barty.

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