Iga Swiatek is still waiting to lift her first trophy of the season. Since her win over Jasmine Paolini in the 2024 French Open final, the World No. 8 has not returned to a single final. Right now, she’s chasing that breakthrough at the Bad Homburg Open, and she’s already off to a solid start. The 23-year-old scored a straight-sets victory over former World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka in her first match of the tournament. It wasn’t just any win, though. While the titles may be on hold, the milestones are rolling in. Swiatek’s latest achievement ties her with one of the greatest ever to play the game. She has now matched a record held by 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams.

Playing her first match since her Roland Garros winning streak was snapped by Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals, Iga Swiatek rallied from a 4-1 deficit in the opening set. Azarenka had come through the qualifying rounds and defeated German Laura Siegemund in the first round but couldn’t hold off Swiatek. The Pole broke Azarenka four times, hit 25 winners, and fired down six aces. This was her 5th straight win against the Belarusian.

When Swiatek’s final forehand clipped the line, it wasn’t just a 6-4, 6-4 win that took her to the quarterfinals. It also marked her 300th career match victory. That win puts Swiatek in elite company. She is now the 11th fastest woman in WTA Tour history to reach 300 wins. Even more impressively, she did it in just 372 matches. That makes her the player with the fewest matches played to reach the milestone since Serena Williams, who got there in 359.

Swiatek has always been vocal about her admiration for the American tennis icon. Last year, she admitted that she still gets star-struck around her. Last year, Williams met the players in a fun meet-up session. Talking about that interaction later, the Pole  said, “She has a lot of positive energy. It’s nice that she came on-site and she was chatting with the players, because for me, yeah, I still felt, even though we met before and for like a couple of years we have been on the same sides and on tour together, she’s still like star-striking me (smiling).”

Coincidentally, Serena Williams played her final US Open match in 2022, the same tournament where Swiatek won the title. Reflecting on Serena’s career and legacy, Swiatek once said, “She’s such a legend. Being able to do business and tennis at the same time but also be a mother and play well and make four Grand Slam finals—it’s amazing. I think nobody is going to repeat that.”

While Swiatek may be matching records, her consistency has been a concern for some former pros. One of them recently shared how Iga Swiatek is different from Serena Williams.

Former WTA Pro reveals the Serena Williams-like mentality Iga Swiatek needs

On an episode of Rennae Stubbs’ podcast from March 31, former WTA player Andrea Petkovic broke down Iga Swiatek’s pattern. She gave a striking comparison to Serena Williams. “If at a grand slam tournament, you play Serena Williams, you happen to be drawn against Serena Williams, right? There will always be one person in the locker room who will say, ‘Well, better to get her in the first round,’” said Petkovic.

She added, “At some point in your life, you will be like, it’s true; it is better to play her in the first round than in the quarters, because that’s when she will excel, be full of confidence, and your chances are even lower.”

According to Petkovic, Swiatek works in the opposite way. She said, “Iga’s trajectory is that she is winning the first round matches. She is getting, at times, really easily through the first-round matches.” Then she pointed out the shift. Just when Swiatek appears ready to push through to the finals, that’s exactly when “she falters.”

This season tells the same story. The 5-time Grand Slam champion has made it to at least the quarterfinals in most events but has not managed to convert any of those runs into titles. Now ranked No. 8 in the world, this will be her lowest Grand Slam seeding since the 2021 French Open.

Before that, she still has a chance to build confidence in Bad Homburg. Iga Swiatek will face either eighth seed Ekaterina Alexandrova or Maria Sakkari in the quarterfinals. She has never won a grass-court title before. Will this be the week she finally changes that?