Aryna Sabalenka set to overtake Coco Gauff in rankings, will restart her 71-week streak with Iga Swiatek

Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka were in the WTA top 2 rankings for 71 consecutive weeks.

Belarusian tennis star Aryna Sabalenka is set to regain the World No. 2 spot in the WTA rankings on the upcoming Monday.

The two-time Australian Open champion will overtake American tennis star Coco Gauff to become the WTA World No. 2. Sabalenka lost the spot on June 9, earlier this year, after she lost to Russia’s Mirra Andreeva in the quarter-finals at the 2024 French Open. She also suffered from sickness and shoulder pain, eventually missing the Wimbledon Championships and the 2024 Paris Olympics.

At Roland-Garros, Gauff reached the semi-finals, losing to eventual champion Iga Swiatek. However, Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek were in the WTA top two for 71 consecutive weeks. The streak started on January 30, 2023 and ended on June 9, 2024.

Interestingly, the duo spent most consecutive weeks as WTA top two in the 21st century. They left behind the likes of Martina Hingis and Lindsay Davenport, who were in the top two for 65 consecutive weeks between 2000-01. America’s Serena Williams and Russia’s Dinara Safina also spent 59 consecutive weeks in the WTA top two rankings between 2009-10.

ALSO READ: Mirra Andreeva surpasses Coco Gauff for most WTA 1000 Top 20 wins before turning eighteen

Coco Gauff, the defending champion at the 2024 Cincinnati Open, was eliminated in the second round of the tournament yesterday. She lost in three sets to Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva. She also bowed out of the 2024 Canadian Open in the Round of 16.

She said after the match, “I feel like I need to work on my consistency overall. I’ll probably go home and try to reset it. With the US Open coming up, I need to be ready. I made a lot of errors, especially when I was up 4-2 in the third set. Most of her points came from my mistakes. She’s a tricky opponent who mixes up her shots, making you earn every point.”

She will also defend her title at Flushing Meadows. Last year, she defeated Laura Siegemund, Mirra Andreeva, Elise Mertens, Caroline Wozniacki, Jelena Ostapenko, Karolina Muchova and Aryna Sabalenka to win her maiden Grand Slam title. However, her current form is concerning.

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