Iga Swiatek's exit at the Rome Open came due to an injury sustained further complicating her season as her number-one rank is now in real jeopardy.
Swiatek wants to be number one but it's certainly not her biggest priority right now. She's hoping that her injury isn't serious and that Roland Garros will be possible for her. Winning another grand slam is the main goal for Swiatek with the ranking in the back mind. The ranking itself might be in jeopardy because Aryna Sabalenka has now a good chance to dethrone Swiatek as the top player in the world.
Due to her early exit from the Rome Open, the difference between the players will stand at around 1400 points. That makes the number one rank in striking distance for Sabalenka as Swiatek is defending 2000 points at Roland Garros.
If her injury ends up being severe so that she can't play there is a very good chance Sabalenka might overtake her. Even if she plays, Sabalenka will have a chance to overtake her in Paris. If she doesn't she'll have a chance to do that on the grass and Wimbledon because she's generally played much better than Swiatek on that surface.
Either way, it's a very interesting time on the WTA Tour, particularly after nobody really expected Swiatek to lose her number-one spot so soon after her dominant display last year.
Elena Rybakina on Iga Swiatek's injury: "I saw something happen in the tiebreak, on almost the last point but I didn't know how serious it is. I saw that the first two games she started really aggressive so I understood that she couldn't really move that much."
