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Former tennis professional CoCo Vandeweghe has claimed that Iga Swiatek won't be able to regain the World No.1 rank by dethroning Aryna Sabalenka. Swiatek is currently placed second in the WTA rankings with 9,665 points, only 41 points behind Sabalenka on the top.
The Pole was dethroned by the Belarusian on Monday, October 21, after a reign of 50 straight weeks. Sabalenka reached the pole position on the back of glorious campaigns at the Cincinnati Masters, US Open, and Wuhan Open.
Swiatek will have an opportunity to reclaim the top spot from Sabalenka at the 2024 WTA Finals, commencing on November 2 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where she will be the defending champion. The five-time Grand Slam champion succeeded in doing the same in 2023, when she overtook Sabalenka to become the top ranked player after being displaced by the Belarusian for eight weeks.
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CoCo Vandeweghe, a former Top 10 player, however, believes Swiatek won't be able to repeat that feat as Aryna Sabalenka has more momentum going into the Year-end Championships this year.
"She [Aryna Sabalenka] has the momentum, she’s coming of the US Open," Vandeweghe said in a recent episode of Tennis Channel Inside-In podcast (at 43:40).
"She hasn’t really played too much post US Open, where you see people are trying to get some momentum back. I’m gonna drop Iga in that list. I think Iga also, she’s having such a long season. There’s too many tournaments yet you’re still playing. After US Open, every player is fried," he added.
"I don’t think Iga’s gonna be able to retake the No. 1 ranking from Sabalenka even if she does win out. I could be wrong and I’m happy to be wrong. There’s obviously commitments that WTA makes you play," he concluded.
Iga Swiatek to defend 1,500 points at 2024 WTA Finals, Aryna Sabaleka 625
At the 2023 WTA Finals, Iga Swiatek pipped American Jessica Pegula in the title clash to clinch the Year-end Championship trophy and also secured the year-end World No. 1 ranking.
Thus, Swiatek will be defending a staggering 1,500 points when she steps inside Riyadh's King Saud University Indoor Arena for the 2024 WTA Finals that will run from November 2-9.
Aryna Sabalenka, on the other hand, has only 625 points to recollect at the tournament as she finished her 2023 campaign in the semi-finals. Interestingly, she lost to Swiatek in the final-four clash.
