Reclaiming the throne ??@SabalenkaA overtakes Swiatek and returns to #PIF WTA World No.1! pic.twitter.com/M9zZwRiMDv
— wta (@WTA) October 21, 2024
So, myself and some others were a bit taken aback on Monday with the sight of Aryna Sabalenka suddenly replacing Iga Swiatek as #1 after a week in which neither played nor were seeing 2023 points drop off their ranking totals. Not shockingly, this is all another case of the WTA getting in its own way. I didn't originally include the news in the Week 42 post (I added a tweet to the post later) because, quite frankly, I didn't realize it was even possible, and hadn't managed to catch the few things that were out there about it on the weekend. Even the live rankings sites last week, at least the one I think is the best, didn't include it in updates leading up to the Monday rankings, probably because it wasn't an "officially scheduled" thing so it hadn't been programmed into the ongoing computation of the totals. As usual with the WTA, such an "exchange of power" (even if it turns out to be temporary) came about because of an idiotic instance, rather than in any sort of dramatic way (i.e. based on actual results)> That could have occurred had we headed into the WTAF with the two of them being virtually tied in points, one looking to outdue the other in order for the change to happen (or not happen, as the case may have been). HERE'S a link to an article that details what happened. Essentially, this week the tour started to dock both Swiatek and Sabalenka's points totals because they haven't played in enough 500 events this season (giving them 0 totals for the "missed" tournaments) as there now aren't enough left on the schedule for them to eventually meet the "limit." Clearly, both Sabalenka and Swiatek knew (I'd expect) this was coming, but decided to simply accept the subtractions since playing as often as the tour *wants* would only make them lesser players on the court down the final stretch of the season. It was either that or, you know, sign up for an event and sleepwalk through an opening match (or retire from it) in order to make the *required appearance*, the sort of thing that has only made the sport look crooked in the past. So, yes, the WTA is "punishing" the top two ranked players (by a long shot) who have totaled the top two points totals in '24, are first/second in titles and match wins, won three of the four majors and six of the ten 1000 tournaments because they didn't play in enough events with a *third* tier (WTA 500) designation (after the slams and 1000 events, with the 250s being the "fourth"). With the swapping out of points, Swiatek lost more than Sabalenka, and will continue to do so in the two ranking weeks heading into the season-closing WTAF in Saudi Arabia, so the dramatic "showdown with stakes" in Riyadh won't be nearly as dramatic now. Leave it to the WTA to take something that the athletes built into something of note and ruin it with ridiculous rules that, if followed to the letter by all would leave the tour's very best and most high achieving players virtual shells of themselves by the end of the season (see some of those cover-your-eyes 0-3 WTAF performances in recent years when players were running on fumes). Sabalenka's season deserves to include her regaining of the #1 ranking, but to have it happen due to a technicality like this just makes the tour look foolish. Sigh... again. I'd say I was surprised, but it's the WTA, so I guess it's to be expected.
All for now.
