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World number 1 Sabalenka wants to stop Swiatek during the WTA Finals in Riyadh

RIYADH: Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek will battle for the year-end No. 1 ranking, which will be decided at this week’s WTA Finals in Riyadh.

Sabalenka “unexpectedly” regained the top spot last week after Iga Swiatek dropped points for failing to meet mandatory tournament requirements this season, entering the competition in Saudi Arabia as No. 1.

However, the Belarusian is more concerned about finishing the year at the top of the rankings and wants to avoid last season’s scenario where she gave up the position in the final week of her campaign as Swiatek captured the WTA Finals title.

Sabalenka has had an incredible 2024, including two Grand Slam titles at the Australian Open and the US Open. She claimed a third consecutive Wuhan trophy last month and said she was surprised to learn she had taken the world No. 1 ranking from Swiatek before the WTA Finals.

“I thought, ‘How, what happened? Where did she lose those 100 points?’ I didn’t expect that,” Sabalenka told reporters in Riyadh on the eve of her Saturday opener against Zheng Qinwen.

“I woke up that morning and my friend said, ‘Congratulations, you became number 1 in the world.’ I thought, ‘What? I didn’t do anything, like at that moment. I was like, ‘Whatever, I’ll take it.’”

Sabalenka has a comfortable lead of 1,046 points over her Polish rival in the rankings, meaning Swiatek must defend her WTA Finals title to have any chance of securing the No. 1 spot at the end of the year.

“I want to end the year as number 1, then everything will be fine. I will say with more confidence that I am number 1 in the world, not just because someone lost 100 points,” said 26-year-old Sabalenka.

Swiatek arrives in Riyadh having not played since her US Open quarter-final exit in early September. The five-time Grand Slam champion parted ways with her three-year coach Tomasz Wiktorowski and decided to skip Asian swing to focus on finding a new mentor.

She announced two weeks ago that she had hired Naomi Osaka’s former coach Wim Fissette, and they will debut their partnership this fortnight in Riyadh.

Swiatek said she doesn’t feel rusty entering the tournament, and practiced with Sabalenka at the King Saud University Indoor Arena ahead of this weekend’s start.

“I’m determined, I want to play my best game here and win this,” Swiatek said.

“It was fun just practicing with Aryna because we haven’t done that since probably 2022. It was really good training and she is a great player and she also deserves to be number 1 in the world. But I’m definitely going to fight for me to be in that spot.

Meanwhile, world number 5 Elena Rybakina revealed that she has hired Novak Djokovic’s former coach Goran Ivanizevic and they will work together this off-season in preparation for 2025.

Rybakina split with her five-year coach Stefano Vukov ahead of the US Open and has been battling health problems including insomnia and a back injury. The Kazakhstani great has played just two matches since Wimbledon and will make her first appearance since September, when she withdrew ahead of her second round match at the US Open.

“It’s not easy to start after this break. But I’m happy with the work we’ve done over the past two weeks. Of course, I may not be at 100 percent yet. I’m just looking forward to it and I’m happy that I’m healthy now and can start playing,” said the former Wimbledon champion.

Zheng is perhaps the most form player on the field at the moment. The Olympic gold medalist has amassed a 28-4 win-loss record since Wimbledon, including a 12-2 run through the Asian swing, which she capped with a title victory in Tokyo last week.

Zheng, the first Chinese player since Li Na in 2013 to qualify for the WTA Finals, has a tough task ahead of her as she opens her campaign against Sabalenka, a player who has beaten her four times in the past fourteen months.

“The most difficult thing for me right now is how to really find a way to break through the wall and beat her,” Zheng said.

“Because the last match (in the Wuhan final) I was obviously closer, but if I can really do something good, try to hold my serve well or try to break it earlier in the match, and try to find a way Winning is the most important thing for me. Because I feel that the level is there, everything is there, but you have to show that during the match.”

On the eve of the 53rd WTA Final, the top eight singles players and top eight doubles teams gathered in the historic Diriyah district to commemorate the season-ending tournament coming to Saudi Arabia for the first time.

The WTA Finals begin a three-year run in Riyadh on Saturday and end on November 9.

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