Iga Światek and Aryna Sabalenka are currently the best tennis players in the world. They are ranked first and second in the WTA rankings. This year, the Polish player has competed with the Belarusian three times. In two finals – in Rome and Madrid – on clay, our player was on top. In the semi-finals of the WTA 1000 in Cincinnati, Sabalenka proved to be better. The recently concluded US Open tournament was a nightmare for one of them, and an extremely successful one for the other.
Iga Świątek ended her participation in this competition in the quarterfinals. The Polish representative was unable to cope with Jessica Pegula – a representative of the hosts – who eventually reached the final. In it, Sabalenka defeated the American 7:5, 7:5. Thus, she finally won the title on the New York courts, and at the same time added more points to her WTA ranking.
Świątek or Sabalenka? Martina Navratilova says who will be number one at the end of the season
Thanks to this, Iga Świątek's advantage over Aryna Sabalenka has shrunk to 2169 points. Currently, the Pole has 10885 points, and the Belarusian has 8716. The legendary Martina Navratilova believes that the fight for the number 1 position in the ranking will continue until the very end.
“Aryna Sabalenka is the best player on hard courts. She is catching up with Iga Świątek in the ranking, so we will see which of them will be the leader of the WTA ranking after the season,” Navratilova began in an interview with Sky Sports Tennis, quoted by Tennis365.com.
How will Sabalenka cope with the pressure? “Sabalenka still has a mathematical chance to do it and she should do it because she has won two Grand Slams,” she said.
By winning the Australian Open, Sabalenka became one of only four players to win two Grand Slam tournaments on hard courts in the same year, following Steffi Graf (twice), Monica Seles and Martina Hingi. “She has unlimited possibilities,” Navratilova said.