“This year it feels like Iga Swiatek’s limping into the finals”;”How anticlimactic” – Fans react to Aryna Sabalenka dethroning Pole as World No. 1

Fans reacted with a mix of excitement and frustration to Aryna Sabalenka dethroning Iga Swiatek for the World No. 1 spot in the latest rankings. The news came as a surprise to many as the Pole dropped in the rankings after losing points due to a technicality.

Swiatek has lost her World No. 1 ranking to Sabalenka due to a WTA rule, requiring players to participate in at least six WTA 500 tournaments per season. The Pole only competed in two such events this year—the United Cup and Stuttgart Open—falling short of the requirement.
As a result, the points from her lowest-earning tournament, the Miami Open, where she earned 120 points, were removed. This dropped her total from 9,785 to 9,665.

Meanwhile, Sabalenka, who played in four WTA 500 events—Brisbane, Stuttgart, Berlin, and Washington D.C.—also lost points, but only 10, from her lowest result in Dubai. Her points decreased from 9,716 to 9,706.
Due to this small margin, the Belarusian reclaimed the No. 1 spot. Neither player will compete again before the WTA Finals, making Sabalenka the new World No. 1 heading into the year-end event. Fans on Reddit had mixed reactions to the news.

“Well it’ll be settled at the WTA Finals anyway. It’s basically irrelevant when they’re this close,” one fan wrote.
One fan was pessimistic about Swiatek’s chances of making a comeback in the rankings this year. Notably, she has not played since the US Open and has undergone a huge change in her coaching. The fan wrote:
“I don’t think we see last year’s heroics from Iga Swiatek. She was a woman on a mission end of year 2023. Everyone was up in arms about wta finals venue conditions and she simply showed up to play. This year it feels more like she’s limping into the finals…”