Tale of the Year It came down to the last match of the year. Iga Swiatek had to win it to be #1 on the WTA computer ranking. She did, and eased past Aryna Sabalenka by a mere 245 points. But on balance when we look at the whole year, Swiatek is a pretty convincing #1. She won six tournaments, double what Sabalenka won, and 68 matches, nearly a quarter more than Sabalenka’s 55. But that is not the whole story, because Sabalenka had a very fine year, gaining #1 and winning her first slam title. Sabalenka started on fire in Australia, winning, Adelaide and the Australian Open. She took down a determined Elena Rybakina in a hard-fought three-set final, and won 13 straight matches to start the year. She traded clay-court finals with Swiatek, losing to her at the 500 in Stuttgart but winning the 1000 in Madrid. In the meantime Rybakina made both finals of the Sunshine Double taking the title in Indian Wells. She also won the Rome 1000, and by June was ranked in the top thre
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