Aryna Sabalenka speaks about being new world #1 & says she was sad Iga Swiatek lost: “I had no doubt she’d make it to the final. It only depended on me if I was going to make it. I wanted to have this battle & decide everything on court. I was sad she lost.”
(VIDEO) "It’s just unbelievable": Sabalenka shares her thoughts on becoming World No. 1 at US Open
Tennis NewsTuesday, 05 September 2023 at 14:47
Aryna Sabalenka has shared her thoughts on becoming the new World No. 1 in the WTA Ranking at the US Open, after months of trying to dethrone Iga Swiatek.
Sabalenka achieved a major milestone in her career this week at Flushing Meadows as she saw herself attain the No. 1 spot in the world for the first time, which will become official when the rankings are updated next week. This comes after months of trying to usurp four-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek, who held the position for 75 weeks.
Before now, Sabalenka's major shot at reaching No. 1 was at Wimbledon in July, after Swiatek was ousted in the quarter-final by Elina Svitolina. At that point, the Belarusian needed to get to the final of the grasscourt major to move above Swiatek, but she ended up falling at the final hurdle when she lost her semi-final match against Ons Jabeur.
Sabalenka expresses joy at becoming highest-ranked player
However, Sabalenka finally achieved this huge goal after Swiatek, who is the defending US Open champion, was defeated in the Round of 16 at Flushing Meadows, where she lost to Jelena Ostapenko.
Coming into the New York major, Sabalenka was close behind the Polish player, as to overtake her in the rankings all she needed to do was equal Swiatek's progress through the tournament. Therefore, if both players were eliminated in the same stage of the Slam, Sabalenka would become World No. 1.
Now, the 25-year-old has improved upon Swiatek's result at the 2023 major by reaching the quarter-finals. Speaking after her fourth-round match, in which she defeated thirteenth seed Daria Kasatkina, Sabalenka spoke of her joy at obtaining the top spot after all this time, as well as expressing sadness for her rival.
"First of all, I mean honestly, I had no doubt that she’s [Swiatek] gonna make it to the final.
It was only depending on me, if I will be able to make it to the final. And I really wanted to have this battle and decide everything on court. But I was sad that she lost. It means a lot to me. All this year I’ve been pushing myself so hard to reach this goal, to become World No 1," she said.
Sabalenka also added that she still couldn't quite believe it and that she was concerned the excitement of it all would be a distraction during her match against Kasatkina.
"It really means a lot for me, a lot for my family and… It’s just, it’s just unbelievable. It’s something crazy. I still can’t believe it. And I was really afraid that I will be distracted by this news today.
So, I was super focused. I didn’t want to lose any point today," she explained.
Sabalenka will go on to face twenty-third seed Qinwen Zheng in the quarter-finals of the US Open.
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