Aryna Sabalenka, 25, is set to reach the world No 1 ranking for the first time ever as the Belarusian is guaranteed to dethrone Iga Swiatek from the top spot after the US Open. On Sunday night in New York, defending US Open champion Swiatek suffered a shock round-of-16 defeat to Jelena Ostapenko. With Swiatek out of the tournament in this stage and Sabalenka also being through to the round-of-16, the change at the world No 1 spot is set to happen. On live WTA rankings, Sabalenka currently has 8,206 points while Swiatek has 8,195. Even if Sabalenka loses to Daria Kasatkina in the round-of-16 and doesn’t win any more matches at this year’s US Open, she will still be the top-ranked player in the world next Monday.
Aryna Sabalenka© Getty Images Sport – Sarah Stier
Sabalenka finally gets ahead of Swiatek
After chasing Swiatek since basically the start of the season, Sabalenka has finally managed to dethrone the Pole. Now, Sabalenka is becoming the 29th woman to be ranked at the world No 1 spot since the WTA rankings began in 1975. Also, Swiatek’s run of 75 consecutive weeks as the world No 1 will be officially coming to an end next Monday.
Aryna Sabalenka© Getty Images Sport – Elsa
For Sabalenka, this is a dream come true. Earlier this year, Sabalenka lifted her maiden Grand Slam title at the Australian Open. After winning the Australian Open, Sabalenka highlighted her next big goal was to also reach the world No 1 spot. Earlier at this year’s US Open, Sabalenka was asked how much it would mean to her to finally become No 1. “It’s just a chance first of all and I’m not really focusing on that. But of course it’s going to mean a lot for me. It’s one of the goals and one of the dreams and I’ll do my best to reach my dream,” Sabalenka said after her US Open second-round win over Jodie Burrage.