Aryna Sabalenka reaches a destiny she might quickly lose again
By Lee Vowell
Aryna Sabalenka is going to get there, but it will take another week. She will reclaim the WTA No. 1 ranking from Iga Swiatek and hold that ranking heading into the WTA Finals in early November. She held the top ranking ahead of last year's WTA Finals as well, and then Iga Swiatek swept away the competition and once again finished as the year-end WTA No. 1.
The reason that Sabalenka will, at least temporarily, top the WTA rankings is that Swiatek pulled out of the China Open and Wuhan Open after making a change of coaches. She is clearly hoping for some kind of reset for 2025. That might mean a coach who can help her be more consistently good on hard courts.
Sabalenka is best on that surface. This is another reason she has been able to get back to No. 1. She won the US Open before almost shockingly losing in the quarterfinals of the China Open. She went further at the Wuhan Open, racking up points while Swiatek adjusted to her new coach.
Aryna Sabalenka set to overtake Iga Swiatek for WTA No. 1 before the WTA Finals
Swiatek might easily retake No. 1 at the WTA Finals in Riyadh. Her points for winning the event last year will fall off on October 21 to 8,285, and Sabalenka's points will fall to 8,306. That means, of course, only 21 points will separate the players so the WTA Finals will certainly decide who finishes as the year-end No. 1.
dark. Next. Coco Gauff and Matt Daly seem like a perfect match. Coco Gauff and Matt Daly seem like a perfect match
Riyadh will be played on a hard surface. There is no excuse for Sabalenka to not do better than Swiatek at the event. Who does best might simply come down to who wants the win more. That was the case in 2023 when Swiatek set the tone of the tournament by showing up in a red dress while everyone else wore white. She wanted to show she was different.
Sabalenka has to be aware of that and take that as a tennis threat. Maybe this year, she will be the one to appear at the event dressed differently. She isn't one of the field; she is one of the best two players on the WTA tour. She can prove she is the very best by winning the WTA Finals and finishing as the year-end No. 1.
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