The China Mail - Sabalenka and Swiatek in No.1 showdown at WTA Finals

Sabalenka “unexpectedly” recaptured the top spot last week after Iga Swiatek dropped points for not fulfilling mandatory tournament requirements this season, and enters the competition in Saudi Arabia as the number one seed.

The Belarusian however is more concerned about concluding the year at the summit of the rankings, and wants to avoid last season’s scenario, where she surrendered the position in the closing week of her campaign as Swiatek clinched the WTA Finals title.

Sabalenka has had an incredible 2024, which included two Grand Slam title runs at the Australian Open and US Open.

She secured a third consecutive Wuhan trophy last month and said she was surprised when she learned she had snatched the world number one ranking from Swiatek before the WTA Finals.

“I was like, ‘How, what happened? Where did she lose those 100 points?’ I didn’t expect that,” Sabalenka told reporters in Riyadh on the eve of her Saturday opener against Zheng Qinwen.

“I woke up that morning and my boyfriend was like, ‘Congrats, you became world number one’, I was like, ‘What? I didn’t do anything’, kind of like in that moment. I was like, ‘Whatever, I’ll take it’.”

Sabalenka holds a comfortable 1,046-point advantage over her Polish rival in the rankings, which means Swiatek must defend her WTA Finals title to have any chance of clinching the year-end number one spot.

“I want to finish the year as number one, then I’ll be okay. I’ll be more confident in saying I’m world number one, not just because someone lost 100 points,” said the 26-year-old Sabalenka.

Swiatek arrives in Riyadh having not played since her US Open quarter-final exit in early September.

The five-time grand slam champion parted ways with her coach of three years Tomasz Wiktorowski and decided to skip the Asian swing to focus on finding a new mentor: new hire Wim Fissette, who used to coach Naomi Osaka, will be with her for the first time in Riyadh.

- 'Determined' -

Swiatek says she doesn’t feel rusty coming into the tournament and actually practised with Sabalenka ahead of this weekend’s kick-off.

“I am determined, I want to play my best game here and win this,” said Swiatek.

“It was nice just to practise with Aryna because we haven’t done that probably since 2022.

"It was a really good practise. She’s a great player and she deserves to be world number one. But for sure I’m going to fight to be in that place.”

World number five Elena Rybakina also has a new coach in Goran Ivanisevic although they will not start working together until the off-season.

Rybakina split with her coach of five years Stefano Vukov ahead of the US Open and has been battling health issues including insomnia and a back injury.

The Kazakhstani big-server has played just two matches since Wimbledon, and will be making her first appearance since September, when she withdrew ahead of her US Open second round.

“It's not easy to start after this break. But I'm happy with the work we did in the last two weeks. I'm not 100 percent. I'm just looking forward and happy to be healthy now and start playing,” said the former Wimbledon champion.

Zheng is perhaps the most in-form player in the field at the moment. The Olympic gold medallist has put together a 28-4 win-loss record since Wimbledon, including a 12-2 run through the Asian swing, which she wrapped up with a title triumph in Tokyo last week.

The first Chinese player since Li Na in 2013 to qualify for the WTA Finals, Zheng has a tough task ahead of her as she opens her campaign against Sabalenka, a player who has defeated her four times in the last 14 months.

“The trickiest part for me right now is how to really find a way to break through the wall and beat her,” said Zheng.

“I feel the level is there, everything is there, but you have to show it during the match.”

The WTA Finals, featuring the best eight singles players and best eight doubles teams in the world, will begin a three-year stint in Riyadh on Saturday with this year's final on November 9.

R.Yeung--ThChM