Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka set for a neck-and-neck battle for World No. 1 spot at the 2023 US Open

Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka will be locked in a neck-and-neck battle for the World No. 1 spot at the 2023 US Open, following their respective exits in the semifinals of the Cincinnati Open.

Sabalenka is currently 1,209 points behind Swiatek. However, with the Pole gearing up to defend 2,000 points as the reigning US Open champion, the World No. 2 will stand a chance at becoming the 29th WTA player to be World No. 1 at the upcoming Grand Slam.

Iga Swiatek will commence her Flushing Meadows campaign with a live ranking of No. 2, and 7,955 points to her name. Aryna Sabalenka, meanwhile, will be defending 780 points from her last year’s semifinal appearance and will kick off her campaign holding the top spot in the live rankings -- with 7,966 points.

With just 11 points separating the two, Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka will be going neck and neck at every round of the event.

In order to retain the top spot, the Pole will have to do one better than her Belarusian counterpart. If the rivals crash out in the same round, Sabalenka will emerge as the new WTA World No. 1 with an 11-point lead.

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"I'll keep pushing myself" – Aryna Sabalenka on replacing Iga Swiatek as the World No. 1

Aryna Sabalenka at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships

Iga Swiatek took over Ashleigh Barty’s reign in April 2022 and maintained an unrivaled dominance throughout her first year as the World No. 1. In recent months, however, the Pole faced stiff competition from Aryna Sabalenka.

Sabalenka first presented herself with a fighting chance of clinching the top spot at the French Open following her victory over Swiatek a few weeks prior -- in the WTA 1000 final in Madrid. The Belarusian was, however, unable to capitalize on the opportunity as she suffered an early defeat in the Italian Open that followed and failed to make it past the semifinals of the claycourt Major in Paris.

At Wimbledon, Aryna Sabalenka found herself one win away from making her World No. 1 debut. After Iga Swiatek’s loss in the quarterfinal, the Belarusian needed to book her spot in the final in order to take over the Pole’s reign. However, the position eluded the Australian Open champion once again as she fell short against Ons Jabeur in the semifinal.

Despite the Wimbledon disappointment, Aryna Sabalenka remained upbeat and stated that her priority is to be the year-end World No. 1.

“For me it's more about how you finish the year than during the year you're first, second, you just go back and forth,” she said in her Wimbledon presser, adding, “I'll keep pushing myself and do everything I can to finish this year as world No. 1.”

Speaking about her expectations at the upcoming US Open, the two-time semifinalist conveyed that she will be hoping to make it through to the final this time around.

“What do I expect at the US Open? Well, just do better. If I get to the semifinals, just do better than I did in the last semifinals,” she said.