Aryna Sabalenka ‘hungry’ to achieve goal of returning to World No.1
Aryna Sabalenka has revealed her goal to return to the top of the WTA rankings, with the Belarusian closing down on rival Iga Swiatek.
Sabalenka claimed her first US Open title and third Grand Slam crown on Saturday, after beating American Jessica Pegula in the final.
As a result, the 26-year-old became the first women’s singles player to win both hard court majors in the same calendar year since Angelique Kerber in 2016.
Despite winning two Grand Slam tournaments this year, Sabalenka told the WTA Insider Podcast that she is still striving for more, “I’m still hungry, for sure. Another goal for sure is to try to become world No.1 again. But I don’t want to talk about this goal. I’m just trying to keep improving myself and keep getting better every day.
“But now I’ll definitely have some days off so I can just enjoy this win and I can switch off and forget about tennis for a little bit. So I’ll keep this freshness till the end of the season. Six weeks is not that much.”
Sabalenka currently holds the No.2 ranking and sits 2,619 points behind Swiatek, who has been World No.1 for a total of 120 weeks, with the former taking the top spot for a brief eight weeks last year.
However, that gap looks bigger than the reality, as Swiatek has 1,760 more points to defend until the end of the season than Sabalenka.
Both players have already qualified for the year-end WTA Finals, with Swiatek returning to action in Seoul next week, before Sabalenka joins her in Beijing the following week.
Let the party begin🥂😂🏆🌴
I know I know…Don’t worry guys I’ll be back practicing in a few days,but for now 💃😅— Sabalenka Aryna (@SabalenkaA) September 9, 2024
Inside the baseline…
Aryna Sabalenka has been by far the strongest player at Grand Slams this year, and the last few years after reaching at least the quarter-finals of every major she has played since the 2022 US Open. It looks set to be a very exciting end to the season in terms of the race for the No.1 spot, with it seeming likely that it could go all the way down to the final tournament of the year at the WTA Finals in Riyadh.
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