"Definitely, we'll chase her for sure": Jabeur motivated to push Sabalenka as World Number One

Tunisia’s tennis star Ons Jabeur believes Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka has all the tools to stay at the top spot in the WTA rankings for a long time.

The 25-year-old became the top-ranked player in the women’s single category after dethroning Poland’s Iga Swiatek who had a disappointing US Open where she was knocked out of the tournament after suffering a defeat in the fourth round to Latvia’s Jeļena Ostapenko with a score of 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.

Jabeur was quoted in a report recently where she stated that Sabalenka had all the tools to become the world's number one and that her success on the court will definitely motivate other players.

“With Aryna, I saw her at the US Open and said congratulations,” she said. “I believe she really deserved to be world number one. She has everything. Serve, big hitter, everything that she needs to be number one. Hopefully that will motivate us. Definitely, we’ll chase her for sure.”

Sabalenka had a bit of a rollercoaster of a ride in the US Open where even though she became the world number one but her journey did not meet a perfect ending.

The top-ranked player suffered a heartbreaking defeat in the final of the fourth and final Grand Slam of the year to America’s young tennis star Coco Gauff with a score of 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Despite that defeat, Sabalenka had an impressive 12 months while playing at the highest level as it was the first time in her career that she ended up playing in the semifinal or beyond in each of the four Grand Slams in a year.

The Minsk-born started the year after registering her maiden Grand Slam triumph by winning the Australian Open after beating 2022 Wimbledon champions Elena Rybakina in the final with a score of 4–6, 6–3, 6–4.

After that, she played in the semifinals of the French Open and Wimbledon before ending as the runner-up at the US Open.