‘Zheng Qinwen and Coco Gauff will continue their progress and move above Iga Swiatek’
Aryna Sabalenka has been backed to finish the 2025 season at No 1 in the WTA Rankings, but Iga Swiatek is unlikely to be her main rival for top spot this year.
That is the view of Sky Sports Tennis presenter Gigi Salmon.
The pair battled it out for the No 1 ranking the past two years with Swiatek finishing at No 1 in 2023 before Sabalenka took the honours last year.
Sabalenka replaced Swiatek at No 1 last October and she was in danger of losing that position to the Pole at the Australian Open as she was the defending champion.
However, her run to the final coupled with Swiatek’s semi-final exit meant she remains ahead, albeit by the narrowest of margins as has a 186-point lead.
Sabalenka remains the player to beat, but Salmon feels there could be a drop off from Swiatek with current world No 3 Coco Gauff taking over as the biggest challenger for the No 1 spot.
“She [Sabalenka] continues to go from strength to strength, with no obvious weaknesses in her game. She seems settled on and off court with the people around her,” she told Sky Sports Tennis.
“Swiatek is going through a period of transition with a new team and while I think Gauff could be her closest challenger which is why I think Sabalenka will hold everyone off.”
Five-time Grand Slam winner Swiatek has more than 6,000 points to defend between now and the end of the French Open while Sabalenka will drop 2,033 points.
Gauff is currently a distant third in the rankings as she is 2,232 points adrift of Swiatek and the American is defending 2,133 points until the end of the clay season.
