Aryna Sabalenka 'Not Confident' About Keeping World No. 1 Spot In 2025

Monday, 23 December 2024 at 14:30

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byErik Virostko

Aryna Sabalenka will start the 2025 season as the World No. 1 player on the WTA Tour, but she's not confident about keeping that spot.

The Belarusian player first rose to the World No. 1 spot on September 11th, 2023. That came after her run to the final of the US Open, in which she lost to Coco Gauff.

This year, Sabalenka won the US Open, and a few weeks after that, she became the World No. 1 player again, even though a bit controversially.

She and her main rival, Iga Swiatek, were stripped of points for missing WTA 500 events in 2024, and since the Polish player lost more points, Sabalenka took over the World No. 1 spot.

Swiatek was also provisionally suspended for almost a month, and because of that, she missed the Korea Open in Seoul, the China Open in Beijing, and the Wuhan Open, which meant that she couldn't add more points to her total to defend the World No. 1 rank.

Still, Sabalenka deservedly became the highest-ranked player on the WTA Tour, and since then, she has held the spot already for 10 weeks, increasing her total to 18 weeks already.

Recently, Sabalenka competed at the World Tennis League in Abu Dhabi, and during her stay in the United Arab Emirates, she spoke to local publication The National.

Sabalenka shared her thoughts about Swiatek's doping case, addressing it for the first time, but she also spoke about the battle for the World No. 1 spot.

According to the 26-year-old player, she "cannot be confident" about keeping the World No. 1 spot, even though she would want to keep it for as long as possible.

"You cannot be confident on that. It’s a mental thing. Of course I’d like to stay there as long as possible and I’m working really hard for that, so let’s see how next season is going to be."

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Entering the first Grand Slam of the new season, the Australian Open, Sabalenka will be the top seed and also a two-time defending champion, having won the competition in 2023 and 2024.

In 2025, she will try to complete a very rare three-peat, and winning the third consecutive title would mean a lot to her.

"It would mean a lot. I think the key is just to focus on yourself and on bringing your best each time you play, whether it’s Australia or any other country, you just have to bring your best every time and hope for the best."

Sabalenka also spoke about the motivation. Whenever she lacks it, she remembers where she started and how much she has already achieved, which drivers her to want even more.

"Sometimes when I feel like I need that drive, which is not very often, I just remember where I started and how much I wanted to be where I am right now and that drives me crazy and that’s what helps me to stay motivated and stay hungry all the time."