Aryna Sabalenka is determined to reclaim the world number one spot and can narrow the gap on Iga Swiatek with a strong performance at the Wuhan Open, which returns on Monday after a five-year hiatus. As the top seed at Wuhan, Sabalenka will compete in the absence of Swiatek, who withdrew from the WTA 1000 tournament following the announcement of her split from coach Tomasz Wiktorowski.
After suffering a quarter-final upset against Karolina Muchova in Beijing last week, ending her impressive 15-match win streak, Sabalenka aims to become the first player to win the Wuhan title three times. “Of course, this is something I really want to do (become number one), it is one of my goals,” said the Belarusian, who clinched titles at the Australian and US Opens this year.
“But I learned in the past that if you focus on the rankings and defending points and all that kind of pressure, things can easily go wrong. So I prefer to focus on myself, and when I’m on court, I just try to bring my best tennis and fight for every point. If I can bring my best tennis, I know that I can become world number one.”
The Wuhan Open is back on the WTA calendar for the first time since 2019, before the COVID pandemic. The main draw, featuring 56 players, starts on Monday and includes seven of the world’s top 10. Sabalenka, who won back-to-back Wuhan titles in 2018 and 2019, has a bye into the second round. She will begin her quest for a hat-trick against either Filipina wildcard Alexandra Eala or Czech top-40 player Katerina Siniakova.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been here, and I remember the first time winning Wuhan was a very special moment,” Sabalenka reflected. “Winning it two times in a row was really special. I was really sad that I couldn’t come back the following year. And now coming back, everything feels like home, and I have really beautiful memories from the past. I really hope I can replicate my result from 2019.”
Currently, Sabalenka is just over 1,000 points behind Swiatek in the rankings. The race for the top spot at the year-end is expected to intensify as they head towards the season-ending WTA Finals in Riyadh next month.
