Iga Swiatek's latest move could be a great chance for Aryna Sabalenka
By Lee Vowell
So far in 2024, Iga Swiatek does not want to play in eastern Asia. She skipped the Hana Bank Korea Open this week, and now the WTA has announced that she will not be participating in the China Open which starts next week. The result of missing the event in Beijing means Swiatek will drop 1,000 points as she won the tournament last year.
Swiatek's point total will drop to 9,885 after the China Open is over. For much of the WTA year, she has led whoever was ranked No. 2 at the time by about 3,000 points. That will no longer be the case, especially if Aryna Sabalenka does well in China.
Sabalenka lost in Beijing in the quarterfinals in 2023 so she has just 215 ranking points to defend. Should she win the event, she would move to 9,501 points and definitely within striking distance of overtaking Swiatek for No. 1 by the end of the year.
Aryna Sabalenka has a chance to catch Iga Swiatek in the WTA rankings by the end of the year
Last year, heading into the year-end WTA Finals, Sabalenka was ranked No. 1 but Swiatek was able to overtake her in the semifinals and then cemented her No. 1 year-end status by winning the Finals. There is a chance the reverse will happen in 2024 as Sabalenka may have the opportunity to take the top ranking from Swiatek in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Swiatek gave a general answer about why she will be missing the China Open citing "personal reasons." Of course, she does not owe it to the tournament or fans to give specific reasons, especially if they have a more grave concern, but let's just hope for the best.
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Swiatek is still scheduled to play in the Wuhan Open which takes place from October 7–13. The event has not been held since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2018 and 2019, Sabalenka won the tournament.
There is still time for Swiatek to build a cushion again before the WTA Finals, but the events left to be played are on hard courts which is a surface Sabalenka does very well on. In other words, the WTA should have an exciting finish to the year.
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