Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus dethroned Iga Swiatek to take the top place in the most recent WTA rankings. The outcome of the WTA Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, next month will determine whether Sabalenka or Swiatek finishes the year as the world’s top seed.

Aside from Cincinnati and Wuhan, Sabalenka’s victories this year include the US Open, the last Grand Slam of the season, and the Australian Open. This year’s French Open was won by Swiatek.

Due to her failure to participate in the six WTA 500 tournaments that the WTA required, Swiatek was assessed penalty points. Due to exhaustion, she only participated in two competitions and missed the Asian tour.

For the first time this year, Swiatek’s rating fell below Sabalenka’s due to the penalties.

Due to her limited participation in four WTA tournaments, the Belarusian will also accrue penalty points this year. However, Sabalenka overtook Swiatek to take the top spot because of two Grand Slam victories and fewer penalty points.

Last year, Sabalenka topped the WTA rankings for eight weeks until Swiatek overtook her with a victory in the WTA Final, which concluded the season. Swiatek had held the top spot for over a full year at this point.

Sabalenka posted on social media to share her joy at becoming the top women’s singles player in the world, writing, “N1… Let’s see how long this goes,” she wrote on X, the previous Twitter platform.

Following her victory in Wuhan, Sabalenka won’t play again until the WTA Finals in Riyadh. With 9,706 points, the new global leader currently leads Swiatek, who has 9,665.

The WTA Finals victor will get 1,500 points and finish the year as the top player in the world.

November 2-9 in Riyadh, on hard courts, is when the WTA Finals will take place. The WTA Finals, which conclude the season, will include the top eight teams in both singles and doubles.