Aryna Sabalenka is closer to becoming the World No. 1 on the WTA Tour than ever before at the 2023 Wimbledon.
Entering the third major tournament of the season, two women were locked in the fight for the World No. 1 spot in the WTA Rankings. Those two names? Not really surprising to any tennis fan - Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka.
The Belarusian had a chance to dethrone the young Pole already at the Roland Garros, but since she won the trophy in Paris, holding onto the World No. 1 spot ahead of Wimbledon wasn't a problem for Swiatek.
But once the tournament started, the fight was on again, especially after there were no points to defend from the last year's event. If Swiatek made it all the way to the final, she would secure the World No. 1 spot again, but that didn't happen.
The top seed surprisingly lost in the quarterfinals to Elina Svitolina, and that means that Sabalenka is now two victories from reaching the World No. 1 spot as all she needs is the final participation in London.
Thanks to the points awarded for the final at Wimbledon (1300), the Belarusian would move only 50 points ahead of Swiatek, who will have 9315 points after the tournament. If Sabalenka makes the final, she will have 9365, and the title win would give her 10065 points.
Since Swiatek became the World No. 1 on April 4th, 2022, following Ashleigh Barty's retirement, she held onto the spot for 66 consecutive weeks, climbing to the 11th place in the all-time rankings of weeks spent as World No. 1.
For some time, she was even the longest-serving World No. 1 among active players on the WTA Tour, but that quickly changed after Caroline Wozniacki came out of retirement. But Swiatek is only five weeks from equalling the Danish player, yet, those five weeks may never be fulfilled.
After crushing Ekaterina Alexandrova in straight sets, Sabalenka has two matches that may change her life forever ahead. However, it's a quarterfinal, and a possible semifinal of a Grand Slam, so those matches surely won't be a walk in the park.
First up is Madison Keys, who is on a nine-match winning streak, as she lost her first set in nine matches against 16-year-old prodigy Mirra Andreeva. If Sabalenka wins the match, she'll take on either last year's finalist Ons Jabeur, or the defending champion Elena Rybakina.
So close, yet so far, may be something that the 25-year-old may be saying after the event. Only two matches, but two matches against probably the strongest players on the surface at the moment.
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