Iga Swiatek (WTA -Twitter)
World No. 1 Iga Swiatek defeated Pole vault world champion Armand Duplantis and Formula One world champion Max Verstappen to become the 2022 European Sportsperson of the Year.
The Polish youngster, Iga Swiatek had a stellar season in 2022. She took women’s tennis by storm and looked invincible at various moments throughout the year. The fact that she is just 21 and already dominating the WTA Tour must be a frightening sight for her opponents.
Swiatek won 8 titles during the year and that included Grand Slam wins at the French Open and the US Open. She climbed to the top of the WTA rankings on April 4, 2022, and has consolidated her position ever since.
Swiatek has been named the 2022 European Sportsperson of the Year by the Polish Press Agency (PAP). She is the second tennis player to win the crown in as many years. Novak Djokovic won the title in 2021. Swiatek is the first female sportsperson to be honored with the title in 17 years. This is awarded to the sportsperson who has had the most impressive performance over the year.
20 international news agencies had cast their votes to decide this year’s winner. There were many fine performances throughout the season but Swiatek’s consistency stood out. Other tennis stars that featured in the top 10 are Carlos Alcaraz (4th) and Rafael Nadal (5th).
Tennis fans were thrilled to see Iga Swiatek being crowned the 2022 European Sportsperson of the Year. Let’s take a look at some of the reactions from the fans on Reddit.
A few people also felt that Kylian Mbappe should have been placed higher on the list after his incredible performance at the recently-concluded Fifa World Cup. Mbappe finished the tournament as the highest goalscorer. The Frenchman couldn’t bring the title home for his country as France lost in penalties to Argentina in the final. However, Mbappe won a lot of hearts with his sparkling performances throughout the competition. He was in the 6th position behind Nadal.
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