Iga Swiatek has confirmed her participation at the Guadalajara Open, marking the first time that a world No. 1 will compete at a tournament in Mexico.
Swiatek has held the No. 1 position for 73 weeks, having originally taken the top spot in April 2022 after Ashleigh Barty's shock retirement. In that time, she has competed in and won WTA titles all over the world, including one recent victory on home soil at the Warsaw Open.
Now, the 22-year-old is set to compete at the Guadalajara Open AKRON, a WTA 1000 tournament beginning on September 17, a week after the end of the US Open.
The tournament director has expressed their excitement at having a world No. 1 play in Mexico for the first time.
"We are very excited, it is the first time that a number 1 is going to play a tournament in Mexico. It is an achievement not only for us but for all of Latin America," they said.
This was demonstrated further in the press conference announcing the field of players, in which 3 of the 10 questions mentioned the four-time Grand Slam champion.
On the tournament's official Twitter page, the post announcing Swiatek's participation was captioned "Welcome back to Guadalajara, amIGA," followed by a purple heart and a tennis ball emoji.
Swiatek last competed in the city at the 2021 WTA Finals, before she was ranked No. 1.
Moreover, the line-up for the 2023 Guadalajara Open also includes world No. 3 and defending champion Jessica Pegula, as well as world No. 5 Ons Jabeur, No. 6 Coco Gauff, and No. 8 Maria Sakkari, who was also last year's runner-up.
In the press conference announcing the field, 3 of the 10 questions were mentioning her😭 Tournament director: "We are very excited, it is the first time that a number 1 is going to play a tournament in Mexico. It is an achievement not only for us but for all of Latin America".
Welcome back to Guadalajara, amIGA! 💜🎾 @iga_swiatek 🇵🇱 @WTA #GDLOpenAKRONxSantander
