Aryna Sabalenka was named the women's ITF World Champion for the 2023 season, but some fans were surprised that it wasn't world no. 1 on the WTA Tour, Iga Swiatek.
The 25-year-old had the best season of her career, and she was recognized for her efforts. However, the question is obvious, why was Sabalenka named the women's ITF World Champion if she didn't finish the year as world no. 1?
The first important fact to mention is that the year-end world no. 1 does not receive the ITF World Champion award every time. In the world of tennis, the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), or Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), takes care of the tournaments from the 1000 to 250 category.
However, it's another governing body, the International Tennis Federation (ITF), that takes care of the Grand Slam tournaments, meaning those are important when it comes to their awards, and that was a factor this year.
While Sabalenka won one major, played the final at another, and two more semifinals, collecting a total of 4860 points from Grand Slams, Swiatek also won one major, but failed to get past the quarterfinals at any of the other majors in 2023, amassing only 2910 points from Grand Slams in 2023.
That clearly shows that the Belarusian dominated the Grand Slams in 2023, and the women's ITF World Champion, as per ITF's parameters, belongs to her.
On top of that, it's not the first time that the year-end no. 1 did not receive the ITF World Champion award. For example, in 2017, Simona Halep was the year-end no. 1, while Garbine Muguruza got the ITF World Champion award.
Clear reason for that was probably the fact that while the Spanish player won Wimledon and played in the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, Halep had a major final and a quarterfinal appearance, but she lost in the first round of the other two majors.
Some more occurrences include 2012, when Serena Williams received the ITF World Champion award, while Victoria Azarenka ended the year as world no. 1, or 2011, when Petra Kvitova got the award while Caroline Wozniacki was the no. 1.
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