Sabalenka clinches WTA yr-end No. 1 ranking for 1st time

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Nov 06 (AP): Aryna Sabalenka clinched the year-end No. 1 spot in the women's rankings for the first time when Iga Swiatek lost at the WTA Finals on Tuesday.

Sabalenka, a 26-year-old from Belarus, was assured of finishing 2024 atop the WTA without swinging her racket on Tuesday, thanks to Swiatek's 6-3, 6-4 setback against Coco Gauff at the season-ending tournament in Saudi Arabia.

A year ago, Sabalenka briefly overtook Swiatek in the rankings in September to get to No. 1 for the first time, but relinquished the top spot when Swiatek won the WTA Finals.

This time, Sabalenka moved past Swiatek - who took a break from competition after the U.S. Open and hired new coach Wim Fissette - in October. Sabalenka is 2-0 in round-robin play in Riyadh so far.

She is 56-12 this season with four titles, including Grand Slam trophies that she earned at the Australian Open and U.S. Open to raise her major championship total to three. Her first came at the 2023 Australian Open.

Sabalenka has long been equipped with a powerful - if once-erratic - serve and intimidating groundstrokes; her forehand speeds at the U.S. Open this year were higher than every other woman and man in the tournament. But lately she increasingly has added elements of touch and variety to her game.

"It's really good to have these options in your pocket. Like sometimes, you don't feel your best on the baseline, and you can just go for a slice or a drop shot or come to the net. I mean, I've been always working on this variation on the court," Sabalenka said after defeating Jessica Pegula 7-5, 7-5 in the US Open final in September. "I'm really glad that I'm brave enough to use these tools."

The WTA also announced Tuesday that Katerina Siniakova will finish at No. 1 in the year-end doubles rankings. The Czech player topped the doubles rankings at the close of 2018, 2021 and 2022, too.