Iga Swiatek may be surprised to learn how she compares to Serena Williams when she was the same age.
Swiatek lost two matches heading into the Australian Open this year, something she had never experienced before.
The world number two was still able to reach the quarterfinals in Melbourne, before Swiatek was beaten by Elena Rybakina, who went on to win the Australian Open title.
Despite her relatively disappointing tournament, Swiatek was able to match one of Williams’ records and she actually has more similarities with the American than many would think.
Serena Williams’ Grand Slam wins compared to Iga Swiatek at the same age
Swiatek is already a six-time Grand Slam champion at just 24 years old, with the most recent of those titles coming at Wimbledon last year.
The Pole has particularly dominated on the clay of Roland Garros, where she has won four of her six major titles.
While Williams played the last match of her career at the 2022 US Open, and is often regarded as the greatest women’s tennis player of all time, having won more major titles than any other woman in the Open Era.
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There are now rumors about Williams returning to tennis, 20 years on from when she was the same age as Swiatek is now.
When Williams was the same age as Swiatek, she had already won seven major titles, which is just one above the current world number two.
Swiatek also leads Williams at the same stage in terms of WTA 1000 titles, and they had also both won the WTA Finals once.
| Serena Williams at 24 years and 8 months old | Iga Swiatek | |
| Grand Slams | 7 | 6 |
| WTA 1000 titles | 7 | 11 |
| WTA Finals titles | 1 | 1 |
| Total Career Titles | 26 | 25 |
It could be argued that the level of competition that Williams had to face was particularly strong at the time, competing against the likes of her older sister Venus, Justine Henin, Maria Sharapova and Lindsay Davenport.
However, the depth of women’s tennis is still very strong now as well, highlighted by the fact that there were four different Grand Slam singles champions in 2025.
One of the main takeaways from these statistics is that perhaps tennis fans and Swiatek herself are too critical of some of her losses, as she is currently on track to have a legendary tennis career, if she has not already.
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How Serena Williams once helped Iga Swiatek win a match at the US Open
Although they were never able to actually share the court together, Williams did actually play a part in one of Swiatek’s victories at the US Open.
Williams has been retired for over three years, but has made infrequent appearances at tennis tournaments, including at the 2024 US Open.
Before Swiatek’s tricky third round match against Grand Slam finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who has just suffered a big rankings drop, she actually got the chance to speak to Williams.
After beating Pavlyuchenkova, 6-4 6-2, Swiatek revealed how this interaction with Williams helped give her positive energy before her match.
“It was really nice to see her,” Swiatek said in her press conference at the time. “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 couple of years we have been on the same sides and on tour together, she’s still like star-striking me (smiling).
“It was nice that she approach me, because I wouldn’t, for sure, find courage to do that (smiling) if it was the other way. But, yeah, she’s really nice and really positive.
“I’m happy that she’s following tennis, you know, and, like, my game, because she told me that she’s cheering for me. It’s always nice to hear that from somebody like Serena.”
It is unclear as to whether she will be at the US Open this year, but it has been rumored that Serena could play doubles with Venus for one final farewell.
There is also the possibility of the revamped mixed doubles event, with Swiatek having finished as runner-up in it last year alongside Casper Ruud.
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