Heading into the final Grand Slam of the season Aryna Sabalenka is within touching distance of achieving one of her career goals.
The world No.2 is closing in on becoming the 29th player in history to reach the top of the WTA rankings. Standing in her way is Iga Swiatek who has held the position since April 4th, 2022. The two are on course to clash in the final of the US Open which will get underway on Monday. However, the No.1 race could be decided during the first week of the tournament depending on how the two players perform.
As it currently stands, Sabalenka is trailing Swiatek by 1209 points (8746 to 9955). However, with last year’s points from the US Open dropping off it is the Belarusian leading by just 11 points. What this means for the New York major is that Sabalenka only needs to do one round better than her Polish rival this year to secure the top spot. If they lose in the same round, she will maintain her 11-point lead and become world No.1 on the Monday after the tournament concludes.
“I know that I have the opportunity to become world No. 1, but there is still a lot of work to be done. I’m focusing on myself more than on the ranking,” Sabalenka said on Friday during US Open media day.
“I know that if I bring my best tennis and if I do my best, I know that I’m able to do that. I’m trying to shift my focus more on myself, on my game, and on improving myself more.”
It is not the first time this season that Sabalenka has had a shot of claiming the No.1 spot but has been unable to do so. She has reached the semi-finals of the US Open the past two years and her win-loss record at the event currently stands at 15-5.
The player who knocked her out of the tournament last year was Swiatek who is bidding to become the first woman since Serena Williams to defend a title at the US Open. The 22-year-old has won three out of the last six major tournaments. She is the player that everybody will be targeting which is a scenario that she has learned to get used to in recent months.
“At the beginning of this season was pretty tough for me. I learned the most because I felt like everybody started to analyze my game to learn a little bit more. They kind of focused on winning with me. So it wasn’t easy. I felt that.” Said Swiatek.
“On the other hand, if you want to be the best player in the world, you have to be ready for that. I learned that I should just focus on myself, not really think about rankings and points, just focus on developing as a player because there are many things I want to change or improve.”
In their head-to-head, Swiatek currently leads Sabalenka 5-3 but lost their most recent meeting at the Madrid Masters. Should they both reach the US Open final, it will be the first time the top two women’s seeds have done so since 2013.
Sabalenka will play Belgium’s Maryna Zanevska in her first round match in New York. Meanwhile, Swiatek faces Sweden’s Rebecca Peterson.
