Hyderabad: Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka went past Iga Swiatek to claim the number one spot in the latest WTA rankings. The next month’s WTA Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, will be decisive as to whether Sabalenka or Swiatek will end the year as world number one.

Sabalenka won the Australian Open this year and the US Open, the season’s last Grand Slam, apart from titles in Cincinnati and Wuhan. Swiatek won the French Open this year.

Swiatek accumulated penalty points after she did not compete in the WTA-mandated six WTA 500 events. She only competed in two events, skipping the Asian tour due to fatigue.

The penalties meant Swiatek dropped below Sabalenka in the rankings for the first time this year.

The Belarusian will also accumulate penalty points this year as she has also played only in four WTA events. However, two Grand Slam wins and lesser penalty points meant Sabalenka leapfrogged Swiatek to the top position.

Sabalenka was at the top of the WTA rankings for eight weeks last year before Swiatek took the top spot after her win at the season-ending WTA Final. Swiatek had been holding on the number one position for almost a year now.

Sabalenka took to social media to express her happiness at being the world’s number one women’s singles player and said: “N1… Let’s see for how long this time,” she posted on X, formerly Twitter.

Sabalenka, after her Wuhan win, will not be in action until the WTA Finals in Riyadh. The new world number one now has 9,706 points while Swiatek has 9,665.

The winner of the WTA Finals will take home 1,500 points and end the year as the world’s number one player.

The WTA Finals will be played on hard courts in Riyadh from November 2 to November 9. The top eight singles and doubles teams will feature in the season-ending WTA Finals.