Aryna Sabalenka may have attempted to downplay some pressure ahead of the start of Beijing as the world No. 2 admits she wants to overthrow Iga Swiatek from the top spot but also claimed that not her primary focus.
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After successfully defending her US Open title, the Belarusian currently has 2,169 fewer points than the top-ranked Pole. However, that is set to change very soon after the Polish tennis superstar pulled out of the WTA 1000 tournament in Beijing.
And since Swiatek won't defend her title at the China Open, she will lose 1,000 points following the conclusion of the tournament. On the other side, Sabalenka has 215 ranking points to defend - that is to reach the quarterfinal - and if she goes further, she could possibly collect up to 785 points.
As it stands now, the likely scenario is that the gap between the two will go from 2k to less than 1k.
Meanwhile, the battle for the Year-End No. 1 is much tighter since the 26-year-old only trails by 409 points in that department.
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Sabalenka: I want to finish as No. 1, but...
"Of course, that's one of my goals, to finish the season at world No. 1. I'm not trying to focus on that. I'm trying to focus on my game. There is only three tournaments left. I'm just trying to bring my best tennis on court. After the season, I'll see if it was enough to finish the year at world No. 1 or have to improve something else to get to world No. 1. To be called as best player in the world, that's really means a lot," Sabalenka said.
After the 2023 US Open, the three-time Grand Slam champion became the world No. 1 for the first time in her career but only for eight weeks.
"My whole life, I've been working so hard to get to the top hundred, then top 50, then top 10, get to the top two. If one day I'll be world No. 1, to be called best player in the world, that means everything," Sabalenka added.
