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Aryna Sabalenka - US Open 2024, Iga Swiatek - Cincinnati Open 2024

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Aryna Sabalenka becomes World No.1 after Iga Swiatek receives penalty

Matthew Johns
Matthew Johns
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Aryna Sabalenka has become World No.1 for the second time in her career, after Iga Swiatek was docked points for missing tournaments.Sabalenka first reached the summit of the WTA rankings after the
US Open last year, spending eight weeks as No.1 before Swiatek reclaimed the top spot. And after the latest update in the rankings, Sabalenka is now above Swiatek once again due to a ruling that not many people are aware of.
All players on the WTA Tour are required to play all four Grand Slams, seven mandatory WTA 1000 tournaments and six WTA 500 level events, as well as the year-end WTA Finals if they qualify. However, this season Sabalenka has only played four and Swiatek has played just two, with the last WTA 500 tournament of the year taking place in Tokyo this week. As a result of not fulfilling the rules, both Sabalenka and Swiatek have been docked the lowest number of points they have earned from one of the required tournaments this year. Consequently, Swiatek has been docked 120 points for reaching the fourth round at the Miami Open back in March, dropping from 9785 to 9665 points. While Sabalenka drops just 10 points from losing in the second round in Dubai, with the Belarusian now holding a total of 9706 points. Upon the announcement of returning to No.1, Sabalenka took to social media and referred to her short reign last time out, “N1…. Let’s see for how long this time.”
This will not be the only points that both players will be docked, as next week they will drop their next best points after the WTA 500 event in Tokyo has concluded. Swiatek will then go from 9665 to 9535 points after being docked a further 130 points, either from reaching the third round of the
Australian Open or Wimbledon.This gap will only widen next week, with Sabalenka dropping just 65 points for losing in the third round in Miami and will have 9641 points. The next time both players will compete is at the WTA Finals in Riyadh in two weeks time, where Swiatek has 1500 points to defend as last year’s winner, while Sabalenka loses only 625 in comparison.Inside the baseline…This news has taken many by surprise, who were not aware of this ruling and were expecting Iga Swiatek to be in the lead up until the WTA Finals. The rules are the rules at the end of the day, but it does feel like a very anticlimactic way for this to happen after Aryna Sabalenka has been chasing Swiatek for 50 weeks in this second reign at the top of the rankings. That being said, Sabalenka becoming No.1 again has felt inevitable and especially in the second half of this season. With Swiatek playing only two WTA 500 events this year, it really does point to her previous concerns about the current calendar having too many events.
READ MORE – WTA Finals 2024 Lineup Confirmed: Who is heading to Riyadh?
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