Iga Swiatek's year-end World No. 1 spot in "big danger" after Pole's decision to miss Wuhan Open, highlights tennis insider
World No. 1 Iga Swiatek is set to miss the 2024 Wuhan Open next week. She is yet to make her first appearance on tour since her quarterfinal exit at the US Open last month.
Swiatek entered New York as one of the favorites to lift the title this year. Despite confident wins over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Liudmila Samsonova en route to the quarterfinals, she was eliminated by Jessica Pegula, 6-2, 6-4.
With the WTA tour in full swing on the hard-courts of Asia, Swiatek is yet to feature in any of the events so far. She missed the Korea Open and the China Open due to personal reasons, and has also pulled out of the WTA 1000 Wuhan Open.
The update was confirmed by tennis journalist and commentator José Morgado via his social media account on X.
"World No. 1 Iga Swiatek misses another WTA 1000 in Wuhan. We probably won't see her before the WTA Finals. Year-end No. 1 now in big danger," said journalist José Morgado.
Swiatek is currently 2169 points clear of Aryna Sabalenka in the WTA Rankings. With almost 4000 points on offer until 2025, she could lose her spot to the Belarusian if she continues to miss events on tour.
The World No. 1 has had an amazing season so far, amassing 59 wins from 67 matches, including title-winning runs in Doha, Indian Wells, Madrid, Rome, and Paris. She also secured a bronze medal finish at the Summer Olympics while representing Poland.
Swiatek will be expected to return ahead of the WTA Finals, where she is the defending champion. She outclassed Jessica Pegula in straight sets to clinch the title last year in Cancun, Mexico.
"After three years of the greatest achievements in my career, we decided to part ways" - Iga Swiatek ends her partnership with coach Tomasz Wiktorowski
Iga Swiatek has called time on her alliance with coach Tomasz Wiktorowski. They had a successful tenure together which saw them win 19 titles and a long stay at the top of the WTA rankings.
The Pole shared a post on her social media with a special message for her former coach. She thanked him for winning four Grand Slam titles together and wished him the best for his future endeavours.
“After three years of the greatest achievements in my career, together with my coach Tomasz Wiktorowski, we decided to part ways," Iga Swiatek said.
“Our main goal was to become No 1 player in the world and coach Wiktorowski was the one who said it first. We aimed very high, we headed to every tournament with a clear goal to win it. Together with coach Wiktorowski we won many tournaments and 4 Grand Slams."
“Coach, THANK YOU, I wish you all the best," Swiatek concluded.
The Pole also gave an update on her future. She is expected to hire someone soon on tour. She hinted at joining forces with a non-Polish coach and working towards taking the next big step in her career.
"I give myself a couple of weeks to start a cooperation with a new coach. I’m in the middle of first talks with coaches from abroad (non-Polish) because I’m ready to take the next step of my career. I will let you know when I make a decision,” Iga Swiatek said.