Sabalenka's on top of the world

RIYADH — Aryna Sabalenka clinched the year-end No 1 spot in the women's rankings for the first time when Iga Swiatek lost at the WTA Finals on Tuesday.

The 26-year-old Belarusian was assured of finishing 2024 atop the WTA without even swinging her racket on Tuesday, thanks to Swiatek's 6-3, 6-4 setback against Coco Gauff at the season-ending tournament in Saudi Arabia.

A year ago, Sabalenka briefly overtook Swiatek in the rankings in September to get to No 1 for the first time, but relinquished the top spot when Swiatek won the WTA Finals.

This time, Sabalenka moved past Swiatek — who took a break from competition after the US Open and hired new coach Wim Fissette — in October. Sabalenka is 2-0 in round-robin play in Riyadh so far.

She is 56-12 this season with four titles, including Grand Slam trophies that she earned at the Australian Open and US Open, raising her major championship total to three. Her first came at the 2023 Australian Open.

Sabalenka has long been equipped with a powerful — if once-erratic — serve and intimidating groundstrokes; her forehand speeds at the US Open this year were higher than every other woman and man in the tournament. But, lately, she has increasingly added elements of touch and variety to her game.

"It's really good to have these options in your pocket. Like, sometimes, you don't feel your best on the baseline, and you can just go for a slice or a drop shot, or come to the net. I mean, I've been always working on this variation on the court," Sabalenka said after defeating Jessica Pegula 7-5, 7-5 in the US Open final in September. "I'm really glad that I'm brave enough to use these tools."

The WTA also announced Tuesday that Katerina Siniakova will finish at No 1 in the year-end doubles rankings. The Czech topped the doubles rankings at the close of 2018, 2021 and 2022, as well.

Happy Guaff

It was Gauff's second win over Swiatek in 13 meetings. Gauff, 20, is unbeaten in the Orange Group, having defeated fellow American Pegula in the previous round.

Swiatek can only qualify for the semifinals if she beats Pegula and Gauff also defeats Barbora Krejcikova on Thursday.

"It feels great. I knew going into it, despite our head-to-head, I had a lot of confidence. I felt like I was playing great tennis," Gauff said.

Gauff cruised through the opening set without facing any break points, while Swiatek's 32 unforced errors proved costly. Swiatek rebounded briefly in the second set, as she went up a break twice, but Gauff swiftly regained control each time.

Despite Gauff's nine double faults in the second set, it was Swiatek's increasing error count that ultimately made the difference, with Gauff steadying herself to seal the victory on Swiatek's 47th unforced error of the match.

"Even when I was playing a bit sloppy, the games I lost were still going to deuce. They gave me confidence. I knew if I could stay solid, I'd have the chance to close out the match," Gauff added.

"In the last game, I missed two forehand returns in the net, and I told myself 'it's OK I'll get the next one', and I did."

French Open champion Swiatek lost in the US Open quarterfinals in September and was leapfrogged in the world rankings by Sabalenka after she skipped the WTA Tour's Asian swing due to fatigue.

Gauff secured the title at the China Open in Beijing, and reached the semifinals in Wuhan.

Swiatek had dominated Gauff in their previous meetings, but the 23-year-old Pole looked rusty on her return after a two-month layoff, securing a comeback win over Krejcikova in her opening match in Riyadh.

Wimbledon champion Krejcikova's 6-3, 6-3 win against Pegula earlier on Tuesday ended the sixth-seeded American's chances of qualifying for the semifinals in Riyadh.

Eighth-seeded Krejcikova, who retired from the Ningbo Open quarterfinals last month due to a back injury, bounced back from her opening 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 loss to Swiatek in the Orange Group to keep her hopes of reaching the final four alive.

"I was fighting for every ball and knew I had to play my best tennis. So, I was trying to play that and be really solid, to put as many balls to the other side as I could," Krejcikova said on court.

Pegula suffered her second straight-sets defeat of the week and will play her final round-robin match against Swiatek on Thursday.

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