Aryna Sabalenka deserving world number one, says former Wimbledon champion

Former world number two Conchita Martinez believes that Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka has deservedly become the world number one. The 26-year-old has been battling with Poland’s Iga Swiatek to claim the top spot in the WTA rankings.

Sabalenka recently became the world number one after her closest rival decided to not play any events after the US Open. She finished the year as the best-ranked player in women’s tennis as well despite not winning the WTA Finals which was recently organised in Riyadh. Her journey ended in the semifinal where she lost to world number three and eventual winner America’s Coco Gauff in straight sets with a score of 7-6, 6-3.

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Former world number two Martinez has been recently quoted in a report by Tennis 365 where she talked about the rivalry between Sabalenka and Swiatek. The one-time Grand Slam winner was of the opinion that the Minsk-born star has deservedly became the world number one as she has been more consistent with her performances in 2024.

“Right now, it’s clear that they are the dominant players,” she said. “Iga was very dominant by a lot of points for a while, even though Aryna was very close. There are a lot of great players out there that can do very well. It depends on so many things but Iga was dominating, and I really liked her consistency. I really like how Aryna has gotten so much better in many aspects of her game, fixing her serve, also her forehand is very powerful. She’s been playing finals, winning tournaments, so she probably deserves to be there, because Iga didn’t play for a couple of months.”

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Sabalenka had a fabulous year, lifting two Grand Slam titles for the first time in a year. She first lifted the Australian Open after beating China’s Qinwen Zheng in the final in straight sets with a score of 6-3, 6-2. She then lifted the US Open title after beating America’s Jessica Pegula in the final in straight sets with a score of 7-5, 7-5.