Aryna Sabalenka makes ‘dominate’ confession as she discusses world No 1 ‘responsibility’
Aryna Sabalenka has revealed she wants to “dominate” the WTA Tour as she opened up about the “responsibility” she has as the world No 1.
Sabalenka has won two Grand Slam titles in 2024 and is the favourite to lift the WTA Finals title, having previously lost in the 2022 final.
The Belarusian is also looking to finish the season as year-end No 1 for the first time, having been usurped at the end of 2023 by key rival Iga Swiatek.
Alongside her Australian and US Open victories, Sabalenka has also triumphed in Cincinnati and Wuhan this year and reached further finals in Rome and Madrid.
Victory over Zheng Qinwen in her opening match at the WTA Finals in Riyad has put her firmly in the driving seat to finish 2024 as the top-ranked player.
Speaking to Arab News, the 26-year-old admitted that finishing the year as No 1 and having the chance to “dominate” was important to her.
And she also opened up about embracing the social “responsibility” of being the world’s leading women’s tennis player.
“I always wanted to dominate the tour like Serena [Williams] did one day, like what Iga was able to do for so long,” said Sabalenka.
“And she’s [Swiatek] still close, it’s all going to be decided after this tournament, so who knows?
“But it’s really inspiring and I want to dominate tour like they did. But I’m trying to focus on myself, on improving myself, and make sure that I have all of the tools to dominate the tour as they did.
“Being a leader is tough, but I think it’s a great opportunity to help the sport, to fight for like equal prize money, to show the world and to help countries like where we are [Saudi Arabia] to improve quality of life for women.
“It’s a responsibility, it’s a good opportunity to speak up for women. 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.”
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Twelve months ago Sabalenka arrived at the WTA Finals as the world No 1, only for Swiatek to snatch the year-end ranking away from her with a flawless run to the title.
Swiatek must win the title to have any chance of usurping Sabalenka, though an unblemished group stage record would see the Belarusian seal the year-end ranking no matter what.
World No 2 Swiatek leads the head-to-head between the two 8-4 and was victorious in the Madrid and Rome finals this year, though Sabalenka won their last meeting in the Cincinnati semi-finals.
And, ahead of a potential WTA Finals meeting, the world No 1 admitted it was “really great” for her to have such an important rival.
She added: “First of all, I think it’s really great that we have this rivalry.
“It’s really competitive and I really love it, you know, because this is something that forces us into improvement and forces us to get better every day, 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 all about sport, you know. It would be so boring and not interesting to watch for people and for us to play if it wouldn’t be that tight.”
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