In what should’ve been a week of celebration, Iga Swiatek instead faced both triumph and turmoil. While she quietly climbed the all-time money list to surpass Venus Williams as the second-highest earner in women’s tennis, her Wuhan Open campaign ended in a crushing 6-1, 6-2 defeat to Jasmine Paolini, leaving fans stunned and questions hanging in the air.
💰 A Record That Speaks Volumes
At the heart of recent headlines is Swiatek’s financial milestone: by reaching the quarterfinals in Wuhan, she earned $83,250, pushing her career prize money total to $42,945,490, just overtaking Venus Williams’ $42,867,364. rnings list — a place only Serena Williams now sits above her.
😱 The Loss That Stung and Shocked
But the celebration was tempered by an unexpected exit. Against Paolini — a player Swiatek had defeated six times previously — she was dismantled in just 65 minutes, dropping the match 6-1, 6-2.
Paolini played with aggression, precision, and an absence of fear. Swiatek, on the other hand, looked off her rhythm, struggling with serve, rally control, and court positioning. The loss marked the first time Paolini had ever beaten her — making the defeat even more bitter.
This wasn’t just a head-scratcher defeat — observers described it as “almost cruel to watch.”
