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Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina emerged as the standout players of this season. Coco Gauff made a late surge as well, but the other three had a good headstart over the teenager since they performed quite well throughout the year.
The recently concluded China Open marked the final WTA 1000 event of the season. There's only one more big tournament left on the calendar now — the WTA Finals. But to qualify for the year-end championships, one needs to put their best foot forward in the Majors and the WTA 1000 events.
Swiatek, Sabalenka and Rybakina did just that. So here's a look at how the three have fared across the big tournaments in 2023:
Iga Swiatek - 2 titles (French Open, China Open)
Iga Swiatek has won five titles this season, of which two were at the big events. She defended her French Open title to claim her fourth Major crown. She made it to the final of the Dubai Tennis Championships and the Madrid Open as well.
Swiatek also reached the semifinals at three other WTA 1000 tournaments and a quarterfinal at another one. It looked like she would end the season without winning a title at this level, but avoided the fate by winning the China Open.
It marked Swiatek's first WTA 1000 title since last year's Italian Open and was her sixth title at this category. The 22-year-old has amassed a total of 6,450 points from the Majors and WTA 1000 tournaments.
Aryna Sabalenka - 2 titles (Australian Open, Madrid Open)
Aryna Sabalenka started the season on a strong note as she won her first title since May 2021 at the Adelaide International 1. She carried the momentum into the Australian Open and bagged her maiden Major title.
Sabalenka ended up being the best performing player at the Majors this year. She reached the final of the US Open and the semifinals of the French Open and Wimbledon. She became the first player since Serena Williams in 2016 to reach the semifinals or better at all four Majors in one season.
Sabalenka's results at the WTA 1000 tournaments were pretty good too. She won the Madrid Open and finished as the runner-up at Indian Wells. The Belarusian has accrued a total of 7,510 points from her results at the Grand Slams and WTA 1000 events.
Elena Rybakina - 2 titles (Indian Wells, Italian Open)
Elena Rybakina lost to Sabalenka in the Australian Open final at the start of the year. The Kazakh got the better of her rival by defeating her in the final at Indian Wells a few weeks later.
Rybakina came quite close to completing the "Sunshine Double", but came up short against Petra Kvitova in the Miami Open final. She then captured her second WTA 1000 title of the season at the Italian Open.
Rybakina's title defense at Wimbledon came to an end in the quarterfinals and she didn't make it past the third round at the other two Majors. She has gained a total of 5,505 points from this year's Grand Slams and WTA 1000 tournaments.
While all three of them have won the same number of big titles, Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka do hold an edge over Elena Rybakina. The two of them have more deep runs as evident by the number of points they've gained.
