Aryna Sabalenka’s withdrawal from the China Open has opened the door for Iga Swiatek to return to No 1, but she faces an uphill battle during the Asian swing.
Following the successful title defence at the US Open at the start of September, Sabalenka maintained her dominant lead at the top of the WTA Rankings as she finished the North American hard-court campaign with a 3,292-point lead over Swiatek with Coco Gauff another 59 points adrift in third place.
With only two WTA 1000 events remaining on the calendar, Sabalenka looked set to keep the No 1 ranking until the season-ending WTA Finals, but the four-time Grand Slam winner then announced her withdrawal from the China Open to add a slight twist to the plot.
WTA Rankings Before Asian Swing
1. Sabalenka – 11,225
2. Swiatek – 7,933
3. Gauff – 7,874
With Swiatek in action at the Korea Open, there is an opportunity for her to replace Sabalenka at the top at the end of the current swing, but her chances are pretty slim as she needs a perfect record.
The reigning Wimbledon champion’s hopes are also boosted by the fact that she doesn’t have any points to defend up until the WTA Finals she missed last year’s Asian campaign due to her suspension, while Sabalenka will drop 215 points after the China Open following her withdrawal.
WTA News
China Open entry list: Who is top seed with Aryna Sabalenka out? Is Emma Raducanu seeded? Will Alex Eala play?
How Olympic exploits of Iga Swiatek’s father are inspiring Korea Open campaign
The Belarusian is also the defending champion at the Wuhan Open so will drop another 1,000 points, but of course she will have a chance to earn points again with each win at the tournament.
Sabalenka – who has been top since October last year – will effectively be on 10,010 points at the start of the Wuhan Open once the 215 and 1,000 points drop so that is the minimum target for Swiatek.
Can Swiatek get there?
The short answer is yes, it is mathematically possible, but the long answer is that it is highly unlikely she will finish ahead of Sabalenka as she will need to have a near-perfect record in her next three tournaments.
Swiatek is currently in action at the WTA 500 Korea Open and will then compete at the WTA 1000 China Open and WTA 1000 Wuhan Open. She needs to win at least three tournaments and reach the latter stages of a third.
If Swiatek wins the two WTA 1000 events she will be on 9,993 and will then need to make it to the quarter-final in Korea for 108 points to move to 10,041. If she wins the Seoul title and one WTA 1000 event, she will need to reach the final of the second WTA 1000 tournament.
For now, Sabalenka is the clear favourite to head to the WTA Finals as the No 1 where both players have 400 points to defend.
There is also a chance that the WTA’s controversial WTA 500 rule could have an impact as neither Sabalenka and Swiatek has entered a mandatory six WTA 500 events this year.
Players who fail to adhere to the rule will lose ranking points and you can read the full explainer here…
The post Aryna Sabalenka v Iga Swiatek battle No 1 spot in WTA Rankings: Could Pole return to top after Asian swing? appeared first on Tennis365.
Leave a Reply