After the retirement of Ashleigh Barty, the former world no.1, the debate has started on who will take her position. However, a clear view of the same isn’t available. There are several predictions about it. Barty has held the top spot for over 120 weeks and now that she has announced retirement, her name will be taken off the list, therefore, generating hopes for Iga Swiatek of her claiming the title.

Iga Swiatek is currently riding high in terms of her form and gameplay. Swiatek has had two consecutive victories in WTA 1000 tournaments and an 11 match win streak currently. Therefore, her chances of claiming the No.1 position are really high.

Further, there are things that will play in favor of her during her journey in the Miami Open. Miami Open takes place in America, so there is a similarity in court type with Indian Wells. Now, as she had a really great spell in the hard courts of Indian Wells, she is expected to perform really well in Miami.

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Iga Swiatek Is Worthy of Expectations

Although Iga is just 20 years old, she is very mature as a player. She has achieved so much in such a short period that expectations of people are bound to be built around her. She performed splendidly in the Indian Wells and climbed the list to reach the second ranking.

Swiatek is a very well-balanced player. Evidently, she has the skill of keeping her calm even when she is in situations that bear high pressure. She recently mentioned she gives equal importance to other activities, such as reading and spending time with family and friends. A mind that isn’t filled with stress and is not focused on only one thing makes room for self-confidence.

Iga spoke about Barty‘s retirement and said, “You already know that I like to cry, so I was crying for a long time. It would be really nice also to be able to compete against her for the next few years and actually try to play better and better, to be able to beat her slice. We’re going to miss her, for sure.”

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Iga Swiatek is currently 2,204 ranking points behind Barty. However, she is 691 points ahead of the third-ranked Maria Sakkari of Greece, thus making herself a strong candidate for the No.1 ranking. If she can defeat the humidity and slow-placed balls, there will be nothing stopping her.

Paula Badosa, the potential obstacle

Paula Badosa had a good run in Indian Wells as she reached the semifinals. Although she was thrown out of the tournament by the Greek, she secured enough points to meddle with the one-way run of Swiatek to the no. 1 ranking.

However, Badosa will have to rely on the hopes of Swiatek losing in the initial rounds of the Miami Open in order to clinch the top spot.

Watch this story: We were both crying Ashleigh Barty reveals she had an emotional breakdown before semi-finals