Sabalenka is not in action this week after her Wuhan success and will lose points for only playing in four WTA 500 events.
IMAGE: Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka has been on a trophy-winning spree this year. Photograph: Florence Lo/Reuters
Aryna Sabalenka’s return to top spot in the WTA rankings after leapfrogging Iga Swiatek has set up a thrilling end to the season, with next month’s WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia likely to prove decisive in the race to end the year as world number one.
Sabalenka has enjoyed a spectacular season, defending her Australian Open title in January and adding the US Open trophy to her cabinet last month, as well as enjoying victories in Cincinnati and Wuhan.
Players are mandated to compete in six WTA 500 events but Swiatek’s decision to skip the tour’s Asian swing due to fatigue meant the French Open champion will only manage to play in two this season.
The penalties saw her drop below Poland’s Sabalenka in the rankings.
Sabalenka led Swiatek by 41 points in the latest rankings published Monday, overturning a 69-point deficit from the week before, even though neither of the two played last week.
The Belarusian regained the No. 1 spot following “continuing year-end adjustments for falling short of certain tournament quotas,” the WTA said.
Sabalenka spent eight weeks at the summit last year before Swiatek overtook her with a victory at the season-ending WTA Finals and the Belarusian hopes for a longer stay as ‘N1’.
“N1… Let’s see for how long this time,” she posted on X on Monday after the latest rankings were released.
Sabalenka is also not in action this week after her Wuhan success and will lose points for only playing in four WTA 500 events. She currently has 9,706 points while Swiatek has 9,665 ahead of the Finals, which will offer 1,500.
The Finals will be held on hard courts in Riyadh from Nov. 2-9 and feature the top eight singles players and doubles teams.
