Aryna Sabalenka mentioned Tuesday that she desires to cap off a stellar yr by returning to the highest of the world rankings.
The world quantity two is the highest seed on the China Open this week following the withdrawal of top-ranked Iga Swiatek, the defending champion, due to undisclosed “private issues”.
Contemporary from profitable the US Open, Sabalenka can take a big step in the direction of overhauling the Pole on the prime of the rankings with victory in Beijing.
“After all that’s considered one of my targets, to complete the season at world primary,” the Belarusian, who gained the Australian Open at the beginning of the yr for a second time, mentioned.
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However the 26-year-old added: “I’m not attempting to deal with that, I’m attempting to deal with my sport. There may be solely three tournaments left.
“I’m simply attempting to carry my finest tennis on courtroom. After the season, I’ll see if it was sufficient to complete the yr at primary or have to enhance one thing else to get to primary.”
The three-time main champion first grew to become world primary a yr in the past, earlier than being usurped by Swiatek.
“To be known as the very best participant on this planet, meaning the whole lot. It’s good to know that you just’ve been doing the correct factor, all of that hours of coaching, wasn’t a waste of time,” she mentioned.
Sabalenka shall be taking part in for the primary time since beating Jessica Pegula within the last in New York earlier this month. She has a bye within the first spherical.
Pegula additionally options on the prestigious 1000 WTA hardcourt occasion within the Chinese language capital, together with fellow American Coco Gauff, four-time main champion Naomi Osaka and China’s Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen.