Explained: Only remaining scenario for Aryna Sabalenka to not finish as year-end World No. 1 after Iga Swiatek's shocking Wuhan Open loss

Aryna Sabalenka, who currently holds the No. 1 ranking, will secure the year-end top spot for the second consecutive season only if No. 2 Iga Swiatek does not compete at the Ningbo Open. The Belarusian is in contention at the Wuhan Open and is set to face Jessica Pegula in the semifinals.

Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek are the leading women in tennis, occupying the top two spots in the WTA rankings. They have faced each other several times, with the Pole leading their head-to-head 8–4, holding the upper hand on clay. The Belarusian, on the other hand, has displayed remarkable consistency, winning titles across multiple surfaces, the most recent being the US Open, which she claimed for the second consecutive year.

Sabalenka began her Asian hard-court swing at the Wuhan Open, trouncing Rebecca Sramkova, Liudmila Samsonova, and Elena Rybakina to move to the semifinals, scheduled for October 11, 2025. On the other hand, Swiatek faced a tough loss in China, succumbing to Jasmine Paolini in straight sets.

The Belarusian ended 2024 as the top-ranked player and will have the chance to repeat the feat this year. However, the catch is that if Swiatek signs up for the Ningbo Open, which she hasn’t yet, she will have a fair chance to topple Sabalenka in the rankings and reclaim the World No. 1 spot.

Sabalenka competed against Swiatek in the French Open semifinals, where the Belarusian defeated the Pole in three sets, 7–6(1), 4–6, 6–0.

Iga Swiatek once expressed how devastated she felt after losing the top rank to Aryna Sabalenka

Sabalenka and Swiatek at the 2025 French Open - Day Twelve - Source: Getty

Iga Swiatek, who boasts 25 WTA Tour–level singles titles, including six Grand Slam titles, held the No. 1 ranking for 125 weeks. However, at the 2023 US Open, she was ousted in the fourth round, losing her top spot to Sabalenka. In Andy Roddick’s podcast earlier this year, she talked about feeling devastated at first but said she worked through her misery to reclaim the No. 1 ranking by the end of 2023.

"I’ve got to say it was freeing in 2023 but not at first. When I lost the No.1 to Aryna for a couple of weeks, I was kind of devastated, but then it was freeing when I kind of worked through it, and when I turned it around to something positive."

Following a successful year, Iga Swiatek faced a one-month suspension for a doping ban after testing positive for Trimetazidine, a substance that was present in her non-prescription medication for jet lag and sleep issues.

About the author

Agnijeeta is a US Olympics journalist at Sportskeeda. She holds a Master’s degree in English and has worked as a school teacher, a blogger, a content writer and a sports writer over the past 5 years. A lover of high-adrenaline track and field events, she was also a sprinter during her school days.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone happens to be her favorite Olympian, and the athlete’s feat of breaking four records within 13 months inspires her, apart from the American's body language on and off the track. Grant Hackett swimming with a partially dysfunctional lung and winning gold in Athens is her all-time favorite Olympic moment.

Agnijeeta believes that deriving of unique angles from podcasts and interviews carried out by Olympics.com, along with hype-building of potential Olympic events on social media can help fill the coverage gap during the off season.

When not at her work desk, Agnijeeta likes to sing and paint. She also plays string instruments like guitar and ukulele and is an avid player of word puzzles.

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Edited by Agnijeeta Majumder