2022 will be remembered for Ash Barty’s retirement as much as for Iga Swiatek’s total dominance of the tour.

Many will be left to wonder if there would have been an epic Swiatek vs. Barty rivalry similar to other great rivalries of the past. We’ll never know. What we do know is that as soon as Barty retired, Swiatek went on a 37-match winning streak that started after her loss to Ostapenko in Dubai and ended at Wimbledon in the hands of Alize Cornet in the third round.

Her winning ways spanned almost an entire six months. She captured six titles along the way, including Indian Wells, the Miami Open, the Italian Open, and the French Open. That’s quite the feat. I’m not so sure Barty would have been able to stop that freight train. And although Swiatek cooled off a bit during the summer, she came back strong to win the US Open, thereby solidifying her spot at the top.

Enough about Swiatek though, how about Caroline Garcia and her impressive run in the second half of the year. Here’s a player that has all the talent in the world, but found herself outside of the top fifty just five months ago. Garcia jumped to number four in the world on the back of three amazing runs; winning the Cincinnati Masters, reaching the semis of the US Open, and winning the WTA Finals.

Finally, we have Elena Rybakina, whose game and physique are now prototypical for Wimbledon champions. She has height and power and was able to handle Ons Jabeur’s crafty game on route to her first Wimbledon title. Other than that great result though, she didn’t do much damage on tour this year. Is she another flash in the pan? Time will only tell.

Let’s look at each of the major tournaments and how each player took home a slam.

Australian Open: Ash Barty beat Danielle Collins 6-3, 7-6 in the final.

French Open: Iga Swiatek beat Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-3 in the final.

Wimbledon: Elena Rybakina beat Ons Jabeur 3-6, 6-2, 6-2

US Open: Iga Swiatek beat Ons Jabeur 6-2, 7-6

WTA Finals: Caroline Garcia beat Aryna Sabalenka 7-6, 6-4