Aryna Sabalenka Returns To No.1 With The Help Of WTA Rules  - UBITENNIS

Aryna Sabalenka Returns To No.1 With The Help Of WTA Rules 

By Adam Addicott
3 Min Read
Aryna Sabalenka - US Open 2024 (foto X @wta)

Aryna Sabalenka might not have played a single match last week but she has managed to dethrone Iga Swiatek from the top of the rankings on Monday. 

The three-time Grand Slam champion has returned to world No.1 for the first time since November 2023 and now has a 41-point lead over her Polish rival. Sabalenka has enjoyed a surge in her form in recent months, winning 19 out of her last 20 matches on the Tour. Since August, she has won two WTA 1000 titles, the US Open and reached the quarter-finals of another WTA 1000 event in China. 

Sabalenka’s success has led to her closing in on Swiatek in the rankings but she has managed to surpass her with the help of a WTA rule. This season players are required to participate in six WTA 500 events. If they fail to reach this quota, they lose the ranking points they earned from their worst results of the season across all tournament categories. Neither of them is playing in Tokyo this week which is the last 500 event of 2024. Sabalenka has played in four of these tournaments compared to Swiatek who has only played two. Therefore the Belarusian has fewer points deducted from her tally. She currently has 9706 points compared to Swiatek’s tally of 9665. 

“Number one…. Let’s see for how long this time,” Sabalenka wrote on X. 

According to the WTA, Sabalenka managed to accumulate 4000 points over nine weeks.  

However, the year-end No.1 position is still up for grabs at the WTA Finals which will take place next month in Saudi Arabia. The points they earned from last year’s tournament will drop off before this year’s event which will hand Sabalenka a bigger lead. 

“I’m trying to focus on myself and make sure that I play my best tennis and make sure I still have this opportunity to become world No.1 at the end of the year.” Sabalenka recently told reporters at the Wuhan Open in China. 

“I think it’s (being year-end No.1) been my goal since I was little. This is something that shows that I’m on the right way, I’m working on the right things. Especially having this rivalry with Iga is something big for tennis and something much needed, I would say, in women’s tennis. To kind of keep this competition going would be really good for tennis.” 

The WTA Finals will start on November 2nd. 

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