Sabalenka “unexpectedly” recaptured the top spot last week after Iga Swiatek dropped points for not fulfilling mandatory tournament requirements this season, and enters the competition in Saudi Arabia as the No 1 seed.
The Belarusian however is more concerned about concluding the year at the summit of the rankings, and wants to avoid last season’s scenario, where she surrendered the position in the closing week of her campaign as Swiatek clinched the WTA Finals title.
Sabalenka has had an incredible 2024, which included two Grand Slam title runs at the Australian Open and US Open.
She secured a third consecutive Wuhan trophy last month and said she was surprised when she learned she had snatched the world No 1 ranking from Swiatek before the WTA Finals.
“I was like, ‘How, what happened? Where did she lose those 100 points?’ I didn’t expect that,” Sabalenka told reporters in Riyadh on the eve of her Saturday opener against Zheng Qinwen.
“I woke up that morning and my boyfriend was like, ‘Congrats, you became world No 1’, I was like, ‘What? I didn’t do anything’, kind of like in that moment. I was like, ‘Whatever, I’ll take it’.”
Sabalenka holds a comfortable 1,046-point advantage over her Polish rival in the rankings, which means Swiatek must defend her WTA Finals title to have any chance of clinching the year-end No 1 spot.
“I want to finish the year as No 1, then I’ll be okay. I’ll be more confident in saying I’m world No 1, not just because someone lost 100 points,” said the 26-year old Sabalenka.
Swiatek arrives in Riyadh having not played since her US Open quarter-final exit in early September.
The five-time grand slam champion parted ways with her coach of three years Tomasz Wiktorowski and decided to skip the Asian swing to focus on finding a new mentor: new hire Wim Fissette, who used to coach Naomi Osaka, will be with her for the first time in Riyadh.
Swiatek says she does not feel rusty coming into the tournament and actually practised with Sabalenka ahead of this weekend’s kick-off.
