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Aryna Sabalenka has reached the World No. 1 ranking for the first time in her career. The Belarusian achieved the feat after a strong run at the 2023 US Open, which saw her reach the final.
Sabalenka began the hardcourt Major as the No. 2 seed, and had to equal or better Iga Swiatek's result to dethrone the Pole at the top of the women's rankings. The milestone was confirmed when Swiatek's title defense in New York ended in the fourth round as she lost to Jelena Ostapenko on Monday, September 4.
As with any WTA World No. 1, Aryna Sabalenka took part in an official photoshoot and posed with the trophy in a chic pantsuit. Tennis fans were impressed by the images and praised the Belarusian's fashion sense and posing skills.
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"Oh she ate that right on up," a fan wrote on X.
"They always manage to absolutely slay for the world no.1 trophy photoshoot," another fan wrote.
"Whatever multinational corporation this woman is starting, I'm in," one fan said.
"Ughhhhhh she ate and left no crumb. Period," another fan tweeted.
Here are some more fan reactions to Aryna Sabalenka's World No. 1 photoshoot:
Aryna Sabalenka has put together some impressive results in 2023
Aryna Sabalenka has arguably been the top-performing player on the WTA Tour this year. In addition to winning the Australian Open (her first Grand Slam title), Sabalenka also reached the semifinals of the French Open and the Wimbledon Championships, as well as the final of the US Open.
The Belarusian also won the WTA 500 Adelaide 1 in January and the WTA 1000 Madrid Open in May. She finished runner-up at the WTA 1000 Indian Wells Open and WTA 500 Stuttgart Open.
Sabalenka is also No. 1 in the race to the WTA Finals, having already qualified for the tournament which will take place in Cancun, Mexico, from October 29 to November 5. Other players who have qualified for the year-end championship are Iga Swiatek, Elena Rybakina and Coco Gauff.
Jessica Pegula, Marketa Vondrousova, Karolina Muchova, and Ons Jabeur currently comprise the top 8.
By becoming the top-ranked women's player, Sabalenka achieved another milestone: becoming the 8th player in WTA history to have held both the singles and doubles World No. 1 ranking. The Belarusian, who has two doubles Major titles (2019 US Open and 2021 Australian Open with Elise Mertens) to her name, became the doubles World No. 1 in February of 2021.
