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Aryna Sabalenka Dethrones Iga Swiatek for World No. 1 to End 2024 Season

This is the second time Sabalenka has reached the top spot.

Madison Williams

Aryna Sabalenka celebrates winning the 2024 U.S. Open title.
Aryna Sabalenka celebrates winning the 2024 U.S. Open title. / Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

Three-time major champion Aryna Sabalenka surpassed Iga Swiatek for the World No. 1 ranking to nearly close out the 2024 season.

Sabalenka previously held the No. 1 spot from Sept. to Nov. 2023. Swiatek reclaimed the ranking last November and has held it since then. Sabalenka has been in the No. 2 spot consistently from the 2021 season, though.

The Belarusian has had quite the year, capturing two major titles—the Australian Open and U.S. Open—along with two WTA titles—the Cincinnati Open and, most recently, the Wuhan Open. She is a 17-time WTA winner and 14-time WTA finalist.

Sabalenka tweeted about the news shortly after the rankings came out. She quickly humbled herself, while remaining hopeful to hold onto the top spot for longer this time.

"N1…. Let’s see for how long this time," Sabalenka wrote.

The 26-year-old has the WTA Finals to look forward to now. The top eight singles and doubles players in the world will compete for the year-end title in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from Nov. 2–9. This will be Sabalenka's third WTA Finals appearance. She's never won the title, but she was runner-up to France's Carolina Garcia in 2022.

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Madison Williams
MADISON WILLIAMS

Madison Williams is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated, where she specializes in tennis but covers a wide range of sports from a national perspective. Before joining SI in 2022, Williams worked at The Sporting News. Having graduated from Augustana College, she completed a master’s in sports media at Northwestern University. She is a dog mom and an avid reader.

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