Sabalenka secures year-end No.1 after Swiatek loses at WTA Finals
Aryna Sabalenka has secured the year-end No.1 spot on the WTA Tour for the first time in her career, with the result confirmed after Iga Swiatek lost to Coco Gauff on Tuesday in Riyadh.
Heading into the WTA Finals this week, Sabalenka held a 1,046-point lead over Swiatek at the top of the rankings.
With 200 points awarded for each group-stage victory, one loss for Swiatek was enough to ensure the Pole could not pass Sabalenka in the rankings after the Belarusian won her two opening matches.
Swiatek’s loss to Gauff came as a surprise, however, as tennis betting sites had her as a strong favourite on the back of an 11-1 head-to-head advantage over the American.
Strong returning was at the heart of Gauff’s upset victory, with two breaks of Swiatek’s serve coming in the first set and break points in all but one service game.
The second set was tighter as Swiatek went ahead by a break, but Gauff soon powered back with a trio of breaks to claim the match 6-3, 6-4.
Swiatek will now play Jessica Pegula on Thursday, needing a win to keep her semi-final hopes alive.
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Sabalenka’s year-end No.1 ranking comes despite the 26-year-old missing both Wimbledon and the Olympic Games this season.
“Looking back, it was important moment for me to just sit back, recharge my batteries,” she said.
“Do great recovery, make sure my shoulder is healed so I can come back stronger.
“After that little pause, I was super, super hungry for tennis.
“I think it’s definitely helped me to be where I am right now.
“I always wanted to dominate the tour like Serena (Williams) did, like Iga was able to do for so long.
“But it’s really inspiring and of course I want to dominate the tour like they did.
“I’m trying to focus on myself, on improving myself, to make sure that I have all of the tools to dominate the tour as they did.”
The Belarusian is a hot favourite to win the WTA Finals this year, paying just -111.11 in the outright market at Bovada.
Gauff holds the next line of betting at +200, while Swiatek trails at +550.
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