Billie Jean King Cup Finals tournament director Conchita Martinez praised Iga Swiatek as “a dominant player” but added that she believes Aryna Sabalenka deserved to finish this season as the top-ranked player in the game.
Last week in Riyadh, the Belarusian tennis star achieved for what she came – she managed to seal the Year-End No. 1 for the first time in her career. Now, the 26-year-old is set to enter 2025 with a solid lead as she has 9,416 ranking points while the second-ranked Pole has 8,370.
Just four months earlier, Swiatek was up big on Sabalenka in the rankings and had the lead of more than 4,000 points. But then didn’t do well at the US Open and also opted to skip the entire Asian swing and two WTA 1000 tournaments.
On the other side, the Belarusian was busy making great results as she won the US Open, Cincinnati and Wuhan in her last five tournaments played. Also, she was a semifinalist at the WTA Finals and also reached the Beijing quarterfinal.
When it comes to Grand Slam success, Sabalenka was more successful in that department as well this year – she went all the way at the Australian Open and the US Open, while the Pole’s lone Major triumph came at the French Open.
“Right now, it’s clear that they are the dominant players. Iga was very dominant by…
