Aryna Sabalenka wants to be world’s number one by the end of the year
Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) said she wants to end a great year for her by returning to the top of the world rankings.
The world’s number two is top-seeded at the starting WTA 1000 China Open tournament in Beijing following the withdrawal of world number one and defending champion Iga Swiatek (Poland) due to personal reasons.
“Of course, that’s one of my goals – to finish the season as No 1 in the world”, said the Belarusian tennis player, who won the Australian Open earlier this year for the second time. “I’m not trying to focus on that, I’m trying to focus on my game. There’s only three more tournaments left. I’m just trying to show my best tennis on the court. After the season I’ll see if it was enough to finish the year at No 1, or I need to improve something else to get to that position”, added she.
The three-time Grand Slam champion first became world number one a year ago before being ousted by Iga Swiatek, who regained her top position in the world’s ranking.
“Being the best player in the world means everything. It’s nice to know you did the right things and all those hours of training weren’t a waste of time”, commented Aryna Sabalenka.
She will be playing for the first time since defeating Jessica Pegula in the New York final earlier this month.
Jessica Pegula is also competing in the tournament in the Chinese capital, along with fellow American Cori Coco Gauff, four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka and Paris 2024 Olympic gold medalist Qinwen Zheng.
