Can Aryna Sabalenka stop Iga Swiatek from completing year end World No. 1 for a record third time in row?
Aryna Sabalenka has the chance to dethrone Iga Swiatek from the top spot in the rankings as she eyes gaining 1000 points in the Wuhan Open.
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Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka (Images via X)
Iga Swiatek is once again on the brink of ending the year as the World No. 1, for the third time in a row. But the obstacle in her path is Aryna Sabalenka, who is in red-hot form and is eyeing the Wuhan Open title.
Swiatek would have saved her spot from Sabalenka had she defended her China Open crown, which was the penultimate WTA 1000 event. As she decided to withdraw from it, it gave Sabalenka a chance to inch closer to being the World No. 1.
The Belarusian, however, lost in the quarterfinals to finalist Karolina Muchova and ended up with 8,716 points in the latest rankings update. Swiatek, on the other hand, is still at the top with 9,785 points. The gap between the two players is 1,069.
Swiatek won’t be playing the Wuhan Open as well due to her coaching changes. A few days ago, she announced the decision to split from coach Tomasz Wiktorowski and is searching for an international coach, owing to which, she wanted to be off tennis courts for a couple of weeks.
Sabalenka is eyeing the Wuhan Open title and the 1000 points that she will gain with it. No player will drop points at that tournament as Wuhan Open has returned to the WTA Tour for the first time since 2019, which means Swiatek will continue to be on top of the rankings even if Sabalenka wins the title, which will see her have 9,716 ranking points to her name.
This means which player will end the season as the No. 1 player will be decided at the WTA Finals in Riyadh. Swiatek is the defending champion, so she will have to win the title (and keep 1,500 points) to remain on top. Sabalenka, on the other hand, was the semifinalist last year and will have to defend 625 points.
Aryna Sabalenka eyes No. 1 spot but admits to not focusing on rankings
Aryna Sabalenka will kick-start her campaign in Wuhan on October 8 and ahead of it, she admitted that becoming World No.1 is one of her goals. Sabalenka, however, knows that focusing too much on the rankings will put additional pressure on her, which is why she wants to remain focused on her game.
Of course, this is something I really want to do [become No. 1], it is one of my goal. But I learned in the past that if you focus on the rankings and defending points and all that kind of pressure, things can easily go wrong. So I prefer to focus on myself and when I’m on court I just try to bring my best tennis and fight for every point.
Aryna Sabalenka said at the press conference
Before the China Open, Sabalenka won the US Open, her first title at Flushing Meadows. She also defended her title at the Australian Open this year.
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Gouri Das
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