Iga ¦wiatek and Aryna Sabalenka these are currently the two best tennis players in the world. They are ranked first and second in the WTA rankings. And it seems that they may soon have a direct duel for the title of leader of the ranking. This is because the Polish woman's advantage is decreasing. The 23-year-old withdrew from tournaments in Seoul, Beijing (where she was supposed to defend her title) and Wuhan, while the Belarusian is still competing and making up for lost ground. In the capital of China, Sabalenka reached the quarterfinals, and is currently competing in Wuhan. There she won her first fight and, as it turns out, made history. Interestingly… together with Świątek.
Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Świątek made history. They repeated the feat of… Radwańska
On Wednesday morning, the second racket in the world faced Katerina Siniakova. She was the favorite to win and she played this role perfectly. Even though the Czech put up resistance and even managed to break the Belarusian twice, she still had to acknowledge her superiority. Sabalenka won 6-4, 6-4.
It was her 50th victory this season. She became the second player on this year's tour to achieve this. Only Świątek can boast a greater number of triumphs – as many as 57, and 59 overall, if you include the competition in the Bille Jean King Cup.
What's more, both Sabalenka and our compatriot won 50 each. matches in the next two seasons. They thus became history. They became the first duo of players since 2016 to achieve this. Who was the last person to boast of such a feat? Well… Agnieszka Radwańska and Angelique Kerber (2015-2016).
Key days for Christmas
Świątek and Sabalenka have a chance to add more victories this season. Shelf most likely only during the WTA Finals, while the Belarusian will play in Wuhan and the WTA Finals. And Świątek certainly needs to keep a close eye on the competition in China. According to media calculations, our compatriot may lose her lead in the WTA ranking even before the season-ending tournament. All because of one of the provisions of the regulations, which we wrote more about HERE.
Świątek has been at the top of the ranking for 124 weeks. She will certainly reign for the next two weeks, regardless of the results of her rivals. What's next? We will find out soon. For now, the Pole is focusing on training and looking for… a new trainer. Last week she announced her breakup Tomasz Wiktorowski. Her new trainer is to be a person from abroad.