The world’s two top women tennis players faced each other for the first time in Saudi Arabia’s capital on Thursday, in a widely watched training game ahead of the WTA Finals tournament.
Poland’s Iga Świątek practised with world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in Riyadh, as the Polish tennis star eyes regaining the top spot from her Belarusian rival.
Sabalenka overtook Świątek in the world ranking on October 21.
On Thursday, the women and the event’s organizers published photos and footage of the two players training together.
The Instagram pictures of Świątek and Sabalenka show them both laughing into their phones and were captioned with the words: “Just giggling: two of the best tennis players in the world.”
The post garnered over 56,000 likes. One comment, which received over 700 likes, said: “OMG! SABATEK finally together, we love it!”
Świątek slipped to World No. 2 because of a six-week absence from the WTA tour. She last played an official match on September 5, when she lost to American Jessica Pegula in the quarterfinals of the US Open.
The 23-year-old then temporarily withdrew from future events, ended her three-year collaboration with coach Tomasz Wiktorowski, and announced her new coach, Belgian Wim Fissette.
