"Hopefully she will stay No 1 until I get there and take her place": Jabeur jokingly responds to Sabalenka ascent to World No.1

Tunisia’s tennis star Ons Jabeur has stated that she is hoping to see Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka as the number one player in the WTA rankings until she reaches the top of the ladder.

The 25-year-old has recently dethroned Poland’s Iga Swiatek as the number one player in the WTA rankings after the latter was knocked out of the US Open 2023 following her defeat in the last-16 against Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko with a score of 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.

Jabeur, who also exited the fourth and final Grand Slam of the year after losing to China’s Qinwen Zheng with a score of 6-2, 6-4, was quoted in a report where she jokingly said that she is hoping to see Sabalenka staying at the top for some time.

"Honestly, I'm so happy for Aryna,” said the 29-year-old. “She deserved that. She's a very solid player. I've practiced with her. Big serve, big hitter. I think she deserves to be number one spot. She deserved that for a long time ago. Definitely the match yesterday was very interesting.

“Not so many people surprised because Jelena can play amazing, amazing games. That's the beauty of also WTA, to find different heroes. I honestly love how Aryna plays with her passion on the court. You can feel it. Hopefully she will stay number one until I get there and take her place."

Sabalenka booked her place in the semifinal of the US Open after beating China’s Zheng in straight sets with a score of 6-1, 6-4 on Wednesday.

She will now face the winner of the clash between America’s Madison Keys and Czech Republic’s Marketa Vondrousova in the last-four tie on Thursday.