London | Swiatek named European Sportsperson of the Year

World No 1 Iga Swiatek has been named European Sportsperson of the Year, beating Armand Duplantis and Max Verstappen in a poll of international news agencies conducted by the Press Agency in Poland.

When Ash retired, I felt mixed emotions because I felt like she still had the best tennis out there. Maybe this week we are going to be able to meet and I'm going to say it straight to her. She really inspired me to work harder, and her different game-style made me realise that there is always room for improvement. Iga Świątek

First founded by Włodzimierz Źróbik and awarded annually since 1958, the European Sportsperson of the Year award honours the athlete who has performed the best over the year.

This year was the 65th edition of the award, and was decided by judges from 20 international news agencies.

Among those polled, 21-year-old Swiatek received 118 votes, 10 more than second-placed pole vault champion Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis, and 36 more than third-placed F1 champion Max Verstappen.

Carlos Alcaraz, the men’s World No 1, was 4th, ahead of compatriot Rafael Nadal and French football star Kylian Mbappe.

58 athletes in total were nominated, representing 19 sports and, prior to this year, only 3 from Poland have won the award to date.

Iga Swiatek took over the mantel of World No 1 from Ash Barty in April

Swiatek had a stellar 2022 season, reaching No 1 in the world, capturing the French and US Open among her 8 tour-level titles, and winning 37 matches in a row.

Across the year, Swiatek finished with a record of 67 wins and just 9 losses, the best record of any female player since Serena Williams in 2013.

Swiatek also became the first player since Williams to collect more than 11,000 ranking points in a single season.

It is the second year in a row that a tennis player has won the award, Novak Djokovic having won it in 2021, and the 16th time the sport has produced a European Sportsperson of the Year.

Swiatek is the 7th tennis player to win the European Sportsperson of the Year, after Djokovic, Nadal, Roger Federer, Martina Hingis, Stefan Edberg and Steffi Graf.

Swiatek hopes to catch up with Ash Barty in Brisbane this week, where she represents Poland in the United Cup, to tell the retired champion what an inspiration she has been in her own journey to the top.

The 21-year-old admitted in April that she had cried for 40 minutes after Barty, the former World No 1, announced her retirement in March at the age of 25, just two months after winning the Australian Open.

“When Ash retired, I felt mixed emotions because I felt like she still had the best tennis out there,” Swiatek said in Brisbane on Wednesday. “Maybe this week we are going to be able to meet and I’m going to say it straight to her.

“She really inspired me to work harder, and her different game-style made me realise that there is always room for improvement.”

Swiatek added that she was ‘super proud’ of herself for taking over the mantle of World No 1.

Iga Świątek is determined to enjoy her United Cup campaign alongside her Polish teammates

Barty’s retirement may have eased the way for her but, this year, Swiatek has won the French Open for the second time and triumphed at the US Open, proving herself more than worthy of the ranking.

“At first I felt like I wasn’t sure if this is, kind of, my place to be,” she said. “Ash seemed like a huge role model for everybody in terms of her behaviour on court but also off court.

“She really set the bar pretty high, so I need to show it to people, but also show it to myself, that I’m in the right place.

“I feel like a huge satisfaction, because I have been working my whole life to get to this point. I didn’t really think it’s possible for me.”

Getting to the top has been hard enough, but Swiatek says staying there will require her to set new benchmarks, and not dwell on what she has achieved moving forward.

“I’m going to try to, kind of, cut off everything that happened last year, and just focus on the future,” she said.

“For sure all these press conferences are going to, kind of, remind me of everything, but my goal is to try to improve as a tennis player.”

Swiatek and her Polish team are contesting the inaugural United Cup, which starts on Thursday, although they must wait until Saturday for their first tie against Kazakhstan.

“I’m pretty excited that even when I had such a nice season, this year I can do some different stuff, and participate in events like that,” Swiatek concluded.