Aryna Sabalenka, closer and closer to snatching World Number One spot from Iga Swiatek

Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka has done her homework at the Wuhan Open, winning the tournament for the third time and moving to within 69 points of displacing No. 1 Iga Swiatek as the leader of the rankings. The current number 2 has had a blistering second half of the year and will be looking to close the year at the top of the circuit.

The Belarusian tennis player, current world number two, achieved a thrilling victory against China's Zheng Qinwen, with a score of 6-3, 5-7, 6-3, winning her fourth trophy so far this year.

Swiatek on the other hand has not played since she was defeated by Jessica Pegula at the US Open in early September, which has allowed Sabalenka to close the gap considerably.

The winner of 3 Grand Slam tournaments expressed her satisfaction for the closeness in the ranking: “Yeah, that’s really tight ranking right now. Really nice to see,” Sabalenka told reporters.

“I always say of course it’s one of the goals, but I prefer focus on myself and just keep working hard. We’ll see after the Finals if I was good enough this season to become world No 1.”

There is only one last important tournament left this season and it will be the WTA Finals. Swiatek will have to defend 1500 points obtained in the last edition in which she won the trophy, so it will be the best opportunity for the Belarusian to do well and close 2024 as the new world number 1.