After the clay season and the large lead that Iga Swiatek had taken, Aryna Sabalenka managed to make a strong comeback in the race for No.1 with her streak of 11 consecutive wins in America.
After the back-to-back titles she won at the Cincinnati 1000 and the US Open, the 26-year-old Belarusian is expected to reach 8,716 points on Monday (09/09) and will be 2,169 points behind Swiatek.
However, in the Race for Riyadh, the gap will be reduced much more, reaching just 409 points.
As a reminder, at the end of each season, the Race aligns with the world ranking, since the Race counts all the points earned by each player from the beginning of the season to the present.
This means that even in a single tournament, the ranking can change, and we may see Sabalenka at No.1 in the Race, which would automatically make her the top favorite for Year-end No.1.
Sabalenka spent 8 weeks at No.1 in the world ranking last year after the US Open, but in November, Swiatek left her behind again, and thus the Belarusian has not yet achieved a Year-end No.1 in her career. In contrast, Swiatek is aiming for her 3rd consecutive Year-end No.1.