RIYADH: Aryna Sabalenka is back at the top of the world tennis rankings and has every intention of staying there.
After spending eight weeks at the summit last year, the Belarusian is now enjoying a second stint as the world’s best player, and enters this week’s WTA Finals in Riyadh in pole position to secure the year-end No. 1 ranking.
While some might crumble under the weight of expectation and responsibility that comes with being at the top, this current generation of leaders in women’s tennis, like Sabalenka and her direct rival Iga Swiatek, seem to thrive in it.
With three Grand Slam titles under her belt — two scooped up this season — and a wealth of experience from spending the majority of the past five years inside the top 10, Sabalenka has come to enjoy the wider role of being one of the leading ladies on the WTA tour.
“Overall, I think to be a leader is tough. But I think it’s a great opportunity to help the sport,” Sabalenka told Arab News in Riyadh ahead of her WTA Finals opener against Zheng Qinwen on Saturday.
“To fight for equal prize money, to show the world, to help countries like where we are, to improve the quality of life for women.
“It’s a responsibility, it’s a good opportunity to speak up for women. I like it, I like to have this responsibility and I like to represent women’s sport as strong and powerful women who can fight for their rights.”
Power is definitely something one associates with Sabalenka, and it is not just because her average forehand speed is often clocked higher than that of many male tennis players.
The 26-year-old has shown great strength in overcoming adversity; be it playing through grief after the sudden passing of her father, recovering from a severe case of the yips on her serve, or finding ways to reel in her famously emotional temperament during matches.
She has learned to accept the things that are beyond her control and is instead buoyed by huge ambition and an eagerness for self-improvement.
When Swiatek first took over the No.1 ranking in April 2022 after Ashleigh Barty’s surprise retirement, not many would have expected the young Pole would go on to spend a total of 125 weeks occupying the top spot — a tally that will no doubt continue to increase as she battles Sabalenka for the summit.
That kind of dominance is something Sabalenka aspires to reach.
“I always wanted to dominate the tour like Serena (Williams) did, like Iga was able to do for so long. And she’s still close, it’s all going to be decided after this tournament, so who knows?” said Sabalenka.
“But it’s really inspiring and of course I want to dominate the tour like they did. But I’m trying to focus on myself, on improving myself, to make sure that I have all of the tools to dominate the tour as they did.”
Watching Sabalenka and Swiatek practice together at King Saud University Indoor Arena this weekend, and filming a TikTok video when they were done, one would not have guessed that the pair are in the midst of fierce duel for the year-end No. 1 ranking this week in Riyadh.
They have faced off 12 times on tour already, with Swiatek leading the head-to-head 8-4, but Sabalenka has a healthy 1,046-point advantage over the Pole in the rankings entering these WTA Finals.
A pure athlete at heart, Sabalenka says she “loves” her rivalry with Swiatek.
“I think first of all it’s really great that we have this rivalry,” declared Sabalenka.
“It’s really competitive and I really love it because this is something that forces us to improve and forces us to get better every day and what motivates us to keep working, keep trying to find something else, to keep improving yourself, mentally, physically.
“That’s great, I love it. That’s what sport is all about. It would be so boring and not interesting to watch for people and for us to play if it wouldn’t be that tight.”
Swiatek isn’t the only one sparking that fire in Sabalenka. China’s reigning Olympic gold medalist Zheng has emerged as a rising force in tennis, and even though she lost all four of her meetings against Sabalenka in the last 14 months, Sabalenka sees her as a serious threat moving forward.
“I think it’s already kind of like a rivalry, even though I lead whatever the score is between us. But I still think we have a rivalry and I see this passion, this … I don’t know, not like aggression against me but I see that she really wants to get this win and it’s already become like a rivalry,” said Sabalenka, who faces Zheng in Purple Group action on Saturday in Riyadh at 6 p.m. local time.
“The last match (in the Wuhan final) was very competitive. I actually see her being one of the best and to have a rivalry with her, I enjoy it, I like it.
“It’s important for sport, that’s why I came to the sport because I like to be competitive and like to have these tight battles and to work on a lot of things during the match and to get this win I think is the sweetest feeling ever, so I love it.”
The WTA Finals tournament in Riyadh is offering a record $15.25 million in prize money, which is equal to what is on the table at the men’s equivalent ATP Finals.
An undefeated champion — with three wins in the round-robin stage — will pocket a whopping $5.155 million.
“That’s crazy, that’s actually crazy. But I think we all deserve that,” said Sabalenka, when asked what it feels like to fight for that kind of money.
“We are working as hard as the men do. We are making a lot of sacrifices, maybe even more than the men do and I think we deserve it.”
Sabalenka has enjoyed a tremendous tail-end of the season and enters the tournament in Riyadh having won 20 of her last 21 matches.
She has lifted four trophies this season — all on hard courts — and all three of her Grand Slam triumphs so far have also been on hard courts.
Sabalenka believes it is only a matter of time before she also reigns supreme on the clay of Roland Garros and the lawns of Wimbledon.
“I was pretty confident this year but (at the) French Open my stomach issues stopped me, that was very mentally painful. And then Wimbledon, my shoulder stopped me,” said Sabalenka.
“But I was pretty confident I can do well at those Slams. I already proved it to myself in previous years. So going into next year I’m pretty confident I can do really well there, if my body allows me.
“We’re doing everything we can to make sure whatever happened this year will never happen again. So I’m pretty confident I can do well.”
