4 longest active streaks of winning at least 1 Slam/WTA 1000 title a year, featuring Naomi Osaka and Iga Swiatek

The WTA tour has sprung some of the most improbable Grand Slam champions in recent years. Naomi Osaka's triumph at the 2018 US Open over Serena Williams comes to mind. Even more surprising was Emma Raducanu's win at last year's US Open and Barbora Krejcikova's Roland Garros triumph.

That said, a few players have maintained a level of consistency over the period and have lifted at least one big title every year.

Ashleigh Barty won the Australian Open in January to back up her Wimbledon triumph last year.

Only three players -- Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka and Naomi Osaka -- have longer active streaks of at least one Grand Slam/WTA 1000 title a year.

Swiatek's streak dates back to 2020, when she won Roland Garros. The youngster managed to back that performance up by lifting the Italian Open trophy last year and winning in Qatar last week. Both tournaments were WTA 1000 events.

Sabalenka has won at least one WTA 1000 title for four consecutive years.

At the top of the list, however, are Sabalenka and Osaka, who have won on the biggest of stages for four consecutive years.

Back-to-back titles in Wuhan (2018 and 2019) and victories over Petra Kvitova in the 2020 Qatar Open final and Barty in the 2021 Madrid Open final mean the Belarusian has won a WTA 1000 title every year since 2018.

Osaka's streak is all the more impressive as four of her six titles in the category have been Grand Slams. The Japanese player's streak dates back to 2018, when she won her maiden Grand Slam at the 2018 US Open, beating Serena Williams in the final.

The former World No. 1 has since lifted another US Open title (2020) and two Australian Open titles (2019 and 2021). To add to that, Osaka also triumphed at the 2018 BNP Paribas Open and 2019 Beijing Open.

Naomi Osaka and Aryna Sabalenks could extend their streak to five at the Sunshine Double

Naomi Osaka will return to tennis action at the BNP Paribas Open.

Ahead of the Sunshine Double (Indian Wells + Miami Open) both Osaka and Sabalenka find themselves with a chance to extend their active streaks to five.

For Naomi Osaka in particular, the BNP Paribas Open holds extra significance as this is where she lifted her first WTA 1000 crown, back in 2018 when she defeated Daria Kasatkina in the final.

The Japanese hasn't had the best start to the 2022 season and comes into the tournament ranked 82. She has only played a handful of matches this season, but will be hopeful of rediscovering her best tennis at a venue where she has had a fair bit of success in the past.

Osaka was given a wildcard into the tournament, which will be led by World No. 2 Barbora Krejcikova in the absence of Barty.