Aryna Sabalenka is still the queen of tennis. At least, currently, she is. She is well ahead of the rest of the field and will likely continue to be for the rest of the year. That is, unless Iga Swiatek catches her.
Swiatek was ranked No. 1 for most of two years until Sabalenka overtook her in full at the end of 2024. Swiatek has proven to be the better player in bigger matches, but for much of 2025, the Belarusian was far more consistent. She might not have won every major, but she gave herself a chance in every one.
Swiatek, meanwhile, stunned the tennis world by looking so terrific in her run to the title at Wimbledon. She had struggled on grass courts mainly, but her win showed fans she is now versatile to be a challenge on any surface.
Iga Swiatek defeats Ekaterina Alexandrova to win the Korea Open title
Still, she trails Sabalenka by nearly 3,000 points. The only way to get back to the top is to do so a tournament at a time. She cannot just win the Grand Slams; she needs to eat up points by taking smaller ones, too.
The Pole did so on Sunday by winning the title at the Korea Open, a 500 tournament, but one Swiatek did not play last year. In other words, she picked up a free 500 points to get slightly closer to Sabalenka.
Swiatek was far from perfect in the final against Ekaterina Alexandrova, though. The first set was rather brutal for the top seed. She struggled with her serve and lost set on 1-6. But as she has shown in the past, an opponent has to keep up their level of play to beat Iga Swiatek in a match. Just ask Naomi Osaka about her first-round match with Swiatek at the French Open in 2024.
Though Swiatek was broken five times and had just two aces, her groundstrokes often kept Alexandrova off balance. The Pole was able to steal a victory she didn't truly earn.
The Korea Open title was Swiatek's 25th of her career. She has an incredible record of 25-5 in WTA finals. At just 24 years old, she is nowhere near finished and could find her way back to No. 1 in 2026.