Aryna Sabalenka clinches year-end No. 1 WTA ranking

Field Level Media|published: 11/05/2024, 1:42pm EST

Sept 7, 2024; Flushing, NY, USA Aryna Sabalenka with the US Open Trophy after beating Jessica Pegula (USA) in the women's singles final on day thirteen of the 2024 U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus clinched her first-ever, season-ending world No. 1 ranking on Tuesday.

In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for the WTA Tour Finals, Sabalenka earned the top spot officially after Coco Gauff defeated Poland's Iga Swiatek 6-3, 6-4 in group play.

Swiatek held the No. 1 spot most of the season until Sabalenka overtook her on rankings points on Oct. 21. Sabalenka bookended her season with Grand Slam wins at the Australian Open and U.S. Open.

Only Swiatek could have overtaken Sabalenka for the top spot, but the Swiatek loss gave Sabalenka a lead of 1,246 points with only 1,100 points left to earn.

She told reporters in Riyadh that the news surprised her.

"I was like, ‘How? What happened?' My boyfriend actually told me, like, ‘Oh, congrats, you became world No. 1.' I'm like, ‘What?'"

Sabalenka, 26, entered the WTA Tour Finals last season at No. 1, but Swiatek didn't drop a match and regained the top ranking.

--Field Level Media