Those who are absent are always wrong and Iga Swiatek is no exception to the rule. Forfeited for the WTA 1000 tournament in Wuhan, as she had been for the WTA 500 in Seoul, the Pole needs to digest her separation from her coach of three years, Tomasz Wiktorowski.
She thus leaves the field open to her great rival, Aryna Sabalenka. Who took advantage of Wuhan, the last major tournament of the year before the Masters, to gorge on points. Victorious in the final against Zheng Qinwen (6-3, 5-7, 6-3), the Belarusian showed her biceps. His control over the jackpot shook the two reference rankings. In the Race, Sabalenka took the lead, with 9,091 points, and is now 806 points ahead of Swiatek. In the WTA rankings, she is only 69 points from the top.
The end of year scepter will be played at the Masters in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), from November 2 to 9, where a lot of points will be at stake. A player who finishes the event undefeated would win 1,500. Plenty of change the current situation, even if it is clear that the Belarusian has regained the advantage. The only player to have lifted two Grand Slam cups (Australian Open, US Open), Sabalenka is already “morally” the best player of the season. But his final sprint is breathtaking. Since August, she has won 20 of her last 21 matches and won three titles (Cincinnati, US Open, Wuhan). Only Karolina Muchova managed to dominate her, in the quarter-finals in Beijing (7-6 [5]2-6, 6-4).
