Aryna Sabalenka vs Iga Swiatek: How Dubai Tennis Championships shocking results have impacted World No. 1 battle

The scuffle between Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek for the World No. 1 position took an interesting turn at this week's Dubai Tennis Championships. Sabalenka and Swiatek have both exited the 1000-level event before the semifinals, which will affect their WTA ranking points tally.

Sabalenka enjoyed a good start to her 2025 tour season in January as she picked up her 18th career title at the Brisbane International. The Belarusian then carried her rich vein of form into the Australian Open in search of a three-peat.

However, the World No. 1 was ultimately denied by 14th-seeded Madison Keys in three sets in the final. The loss translated into a drop-off of 700 ranking points for the 26-year-old (since she was defending 2,000 points in the fortnight and accrued 1,300 points for a runner-up finish in Melbourne).

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How Aryna Sabalenka & Iga Swiatek's Dubai exits have affected their World No. 1 fight

Iga Swiatek hits a setback in her World No. 1 aspirations (Source: Getty Images)

The Belarusian then exited in the first round of the Qatar Open in early February, gaining no new points from the 1000-level event. And while she also failed to go deep in Dubai, losing to Denmark's Clara Tauson in the third, she will pick up 215 points. This will bring her tally to 9,076 points in next week's WTA rankings (which will be updated February 24).

Iga Swiatek, meanwhile, has also been struggling on-court lately. After her Australian Open semifinals heartbreak to an inspired Keys, the Pole failed to defend her 2024 Qatar Open title at the beginning of the month as she was upset by Jelena Ostapenko in the last four.

Before her Doha campaign, she had been less than 200 points away from unseating her arch-rival Sabalenka from the top spot in the WTA rankings with 8,770 points. As a result of the semifinal loss at the 1000-level event, Swiatek dropped 610 ranking points (having accumulated 390 points for her last-four showing).

The 22-year-old's hunt for the No. 1 position took a further hit at this week's Dubai Tennis Championships, where she had reached the semifinals last year, as she exited in the last-eight stage to Russian teen sensation Mirra Andreeva. Thus, while she gained 215 points for her quarterfinal result, she will now stand at 7,985 points in the updated WTA rankings.

Iga Swiatek will face even more pressure at next month's BNP Paribas Open as far as her World No. 1 aspirations are concerned. The defending Indian Wells champion will be defending 1,000 ranking points at the 1000-level event, whereas Aryna Sabalenka has only a measly 120 points on the line (as she exited in the fourth round of the Palm Springs event last year).