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

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Aryna Sabalenka confirmed as Year-End No.1 after Iga Swiatek loses

Matthew Johns
Matthew Johns
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Aryna Sabalenka will finish the 2024 season as World No.1, that was confirmed after Iga Swiatek lost her second match at the WTA Finals.Sabalenka went into the year-end tournament in Riyadh in poll position to end the year at the top of the rankings, knowing that winning all three of her round-robin matches would confirm her fate. However, after the US Open champion won her opening two matches in the Saudi capital, she also knew that Swiatek losing to Coco Gauff would bring the battle for top spot to an end. And Gauff did just that, beating Swiatek for just the second time in 13 meetings with a straight sets victory last night.
As a result, Sabalenka will become the 16th year-end WTA No.1 in history regardless of what happens at the remainder of the tournament in Riyadh. Sabalenka is not the only player to have confirmed their fate as year-end No.1, with Katerina Siniakova also set to finish the year at the top of the doubles rankings. This will be the fourth time that Siniakova will finish the year as World No.1, with both the Czech player and Sabalenka set to receive their year-end trophies in the not too distant future.
Both Sabalenka and Siniakova will also be in action today, with the singles No.1 taking on Elena Rybakina, while the doubles No.1 competes alongside Taylor Townsend in their third round-robin match against Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens.
Inside the baseline…It really has been a remarkable season from Aryna Sabalenka, winning two Grand Slam titles and two WTA 1000 events, and it feels right that she will end the year as World No.1. It is even more remarkable when you consider that after missing Wimbledon through injury, Sabalenka sat in fourth spot in the race and was 3,000 points behind Iga Swiatek. As for Katerina Siniakova, she is an incredible doubles player and it almost seems as though she can play with anyone and have success at the top level.
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WTA Year-end World No.1’s this Century 

Sabalenka is the 16th year-end WTA singles No.1 in history, and the 12th different player to finish the season at the top spot this century:2000 – Martina Hingis (3)2001 – Lindsay Davenport (2)2002 – Serena Williams
2003 – Justine Henin2004 – Lindsay Davenport (3)2005 – Lindsay Davenport (4)2006 – Justine Henin (2)
2007 – Justine Henin (3)2008 – Jelena Jankovic2009 – Serena Williams (2)2010 – Caroline Wozniacki2011 – Caroline Wozniacki (2)2012 – Victoria Azarenka
2013 – Serena Williams (3)2014 – Serena Williams (4)2015 – Serena Williams (5)2016 – Angelique Kerber2017 – Simona Halep2018 – Simona Halep (2)
2019 – Ash Barty2020 – Ash Barty (2)2021 – Ash Barty (3)2022 – Iga Swiatek2023 – Iga Swiatek (2)2024 – Aryna Sabalenka
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