Aryna Sabalenka wishes to do the "impossible" by replacing Iga Swiatek as the World No. 1

After winning her first Grand Slam title at the 2023 Australian Open, Aryna Sabalenka's topmost priority is to achieve a career-best ranking of World No. 1. She realizes how difficult a task it is, given the massive difference in the number of points between her and current No. 1 Iga Swiatek. However, the Belarusian is determined to make it happen in the future.

The second-ranked player has had a dreamlike start to the 2023 season as she has already won two titles and is yet to lose a match. She started by lifting the WTA 500 Adelaide International 1, which was followed by her biggest victory so far — in Melbourne. The 24-year-old downed reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the title clash of the Australian Open.

Speaking to Arab News ahead of her stint at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, the second seed stated that her next goal was to get to the top of the WTA rankings.

Currently, there's a huge difference of 4,800 points between her and Swiatek but the Belarusian wants to embrace the challenge and do the unthinkable. The magnitude of the task only makes Sabalenka hungrier for the No. 1 ranking, who also praised 21-year-old Swiatek for setting the bar for the rest of the field.

“It’s my first priority, I would say. I really want it,” Sabalenka said. “She’s [Swiatek] doing really well, she’s moving better than anybody else, she’s tough and it’s going to be really tough, and that’s why I really want to achieve it. Because it seems like impossible, but I want to make it possible.”

Swiatek had an extraordinary outing in 2022, winning eight singles titles, which included two Grand Slams (French Open and US Open) and four WTA 1000 events. For her efforts, she has been nominated for the 2023 Laureus World Sports Awards in the Sportswoman of the Year category.

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"You have to keep working" - Aryna Sabalenka on what advice her team offered her after Australian Open glory

Aryna Sabalenka celebrating her triumph at the 2023 Australian Open with her team

Now that she is a Grand Slam champion, Aryna Sabalenka revealed that her team instructed her to concentrate on the upcoming tournaments and keep working hard, and not rest on her laurels.

“The message is that, ‘Yes, you’ve become a Grand Slam champion, that’s great, that’s really amazing and everyone is super happy, but it’s already gone. You have to keep working, you have to keep proving to yourself, to everyone, that you’re in the right place, and you have to keep working’,” Aryna Sabalenka said.

Taking the advice to heart, Sabalenka made easy work of Lauren Davis in her Dubai opener, winning 6-0, 6-1 to book a meeting with Jelena Ostapenko in the Round-of-16.