"Number one is down the street": Former Serena Williams coach backs Swiatek to reclaim the top spot and halt Sabalenka’s surge

Former Serena Williams coach Rick Macci has assured that Iga Swiatek will return to World No. 1 during the first months of 2026. The American coach trusts in the mental strength of the six-time major champion and believes that by the middle of the clay swing, she will be able to reinstall herself at the top of the rankings.

Swiatek finished the season as World No. 2, behind Aryna Sabalenka. The Pole reached the top of the rankings for the first time in April 2022 and held it for 75 weeks until September 2023. She was displaced by Sabalenka for eight weeks but managed to reclaim the top spot in the final part of the year, stringing together another 50 weeks as the WTA leader.

At 24 years old, Swiatek already has 125 weeks as World No. 1, placing her as the player with the 7th most weeks leading the rankings—leaving behind legends like Ashleigh Barty, Justine Henin, and Lindsay Davenport. Swiatek has totaled practically double the time of her great rival Sabalenka, who so far has 67 weeks at No. 1, consolidating herself as the 12th player with the most weeks at the summit.

The rivalry between Sabalenka and Swiatek has seen them alternating the top two spots during the last four seasons, winning a combined total of 10 Grand Slams—six for Swiatek and four for Sabalenka.

The end of the 2025 season saw Sabalenka securing the top of the rankings with a wide difference, despite losing in the final of the WTA Finals to Elena Rybakina. The Belarusian has 10,870 points—a lead of nearly 2,500 points over the No. 2 Swiatek (8,395).

Sabalenka defends 1,800 points during January of next year, between the title at the Brisbane International and the final reached at the Australian Open. On the other hand, Swiatek defends 1,040 points following her campaigns to the final of the United Cup and the semifinals of the Australian Open.

This means that Swiatek has a remote possibility of returning to the top of the rankings if she improves her participation in Melbourne and Sabalenka suffers an early elimination in the same tournament. Regardless, the start of the season will be a good instance for the Pole to cut the difference with Sabalenka, especially considering that the first months of the year are when Swiatek defends fewer points from the previous season.

American coach Rick Macci—who worked with sisters Venus and Serena Williams, in addition to other great stars like Andy Roddick or Maria Sharapova—assured that Swiatek will manage to return to World No. 1 during the first months of 2026.

“The Polish Punisher will hit number one on the planet because her mind will be even stronger granite,” stated Rick Macci on his X account. “By the end of May if not faster she will be at the top ripping and for others a disaster. Number one is down the street because the Punisher has the mind and the feet.”

During 2025, the Pole added a large number of wins during the first months, but repeatedly failed in the final stages of tournaments. In her first eight tournaments of the season, she reached one final, four semifinals, and three quarterfinals: a 26-8 record between January and early May.

The turning point probably came with the defeat in the third round of the Italian Open and then her defeat in the semifinals of Roland Garros—where she was the three-time defending champion but bowed out to Aryna Sabalenka in the semis. The Belarusian, for her part, defends three titles between January and May (Brisbane, Miami, and Madrid) and four other finals (Australian Open, Indian Wells, Stuttgart).