Aryna Sabalenka has become the World No.1 for the second time after Iga Swiatek was docked Points for Missing WTA 500 Tournaments

Aryna Sabalenka has become the world No. 1 for the second time after Iga Swiatek was docked points for missing WTA 500 tournaments.

The Belarusian first became No. 1 after last year’s US Open. Then she was at the summit for just eight weeks before Swiatek reclaimed the top spot.

Sabalenka has won two Grand Slam titles this season while Swiatek has claimed one.

Aryna Sabalenka has become the world No. 1 for the second time after Iga Swiatek was docked points for missing tournaments.
The Belarusian first reached the WTA rankings summit after last year’s US Open.

She was world No. 1 for just eight weeks before Swiatek reclaimed the top spot.
Sabalenka has this time claimed the position due to a ruling which stipulates that all players on the WTA Tour must play all four Grand Slams, seven mandatory WTA 1000 tournaments and six WTA 500-level events, as well as the year-end WTA Finals, should they qualify.

This term, Sabalenka has only played in four WTA 500 tournaments, while Swiatek has competed in just two.
They have therefore each been docked the ranking points they earned from their worst results of the season across all tournament categories.
Swiatek has been docked the 120 points she earned for reaching the fourth round at the Miami Open back in March, with her total falling from 9785 to 9665 points.

Meanwhile, Sabalenka has dropped the 10 points she earned upon losing in the second round to world No. 19 Donna Vekic at the Dubai Tennis Championships, and is now on a total of 9706 points.
Upon climbing back to the top of the mountain, Sabalenka took to social media and made reference to her short reign last time out. She said “N1 Let’s see for how long this time.”
Both stars are set to be absent for the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, the final WTA 500 event of the year.
In turn, they will be dealt further deductions upon the conclusion of that competition.
Swiatek will lose the 130 points she earned for reaching the third round of either the Australian Open or Wimbledon, while Sabalenka will lose her 65 points for reaching the third round in Miami.

“I hope she’ll figure out the coach situation and she’ll be back in the finals in her best shape,” Sabalenka said in a news conference at the Wuhan Open, also in China.

“Hopefully we can play against each other there.”

The “coach situation”, in which Swiatek parted company with Tomas Wiktorowski with whom she won four Grand Slam titles, has indeed been figured out.

Swiatek has since hired Wim Fissette, who coached Naomi Osaka, Kim Clijsters and Angelique Kerber to Grand Slam titles. All three are former world No. 1s.