Swiatek Takes 19-Match Win Streak In Stuttgart; Andreescu Makes 2022 Debut

After dropping just one game in four sets during the BJK Cup this weekend, world No. 1 Iga Swiatek officially opens her clay season in a tournament debut this week in Stuttgart.

The 20-year-old roars onto her favorite surface on a 19-match winning streak, and she’ll likely be favored in every match until the grass season.

But the Stuttgart field is loaded wit seven of the Top 10 players entered including Paula Badosa, Aryna Sabalenka, Maria Sakkari, Anett Kontaveit, Karolina Pliskova and Ons Jabeur.

Emma Raducanu, Coco Gauff, 2-time champion Angelique Kerber, Petra Kvitova and Bianca Andreescu are among the unseeded!

Andreescu is also making her 2022 debut after nearly quitting the sport due to mental health issues.

“I’m being really honest here, but I actually wanted to quit the sport,” Andreescu said to the WTA. “It was really bad. I am privileged in a way for having this opportunity and doing all of this. Now I’m very grateful, more than ever. So I don’t want people to think, ‘Oh you’re a little baby, just suck it up.’ But it was an accumulation of two-and-a-half years. A lot had happened and I just didn’t want to deal with anything anymore.

“So I realized that I really do love the sport and I do want to continue, but not just to win Grand Slams, or to do this and that. I want to do something bigger in the sport and I want to help contribute to a better world as well. I realize that tennis is my way toward that.”

The former US Open champion opens against Jule Niemeier with Sabalenka in the second round.

Also in the first round, Kontaveit collides with Kerber and Pliskova takes on Kvitova in a Czech battle of former Stuttgart champions.

Last year, Ash Barty got past Sabalenka in three sets in the final.

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