Aryna Sabalenka may have a target on her back after failing to win the title at another Grand Slam.
Sabalenka lost to Amanda Anisimova in the Wimbledon semifinals, matching her best previous result at the grass court major.
Despite dominating on the WTA Tour, this continues the Belarusian’s Grand Slam drought in 2025, with Sabalenka losing to Coco Gauff in the Roland Garros final, and Madison Keys in the Australian Open final.
After Sabalenka continues to lose in the latter stages of majors, it has been predicted that she will be overtaken by a rival of hers.
Photo by Julian Finney/Getty ImagesRick Macci predicts Iga Swiatek to end the year as world number one
Sabalenka has achieved the highest ranking point tally since Serena Williams after reaching the Wimbledon semifinal.
However, after watching Iga Swiatek win Wimbledon, a top tennis coach believes that her place at the summit of the WTA rankings may be at risk.
Swiatek has been Sabalenka’s biggest rival in recent years, but faded away for a few months this year after a drop off in form.
However, after watching the Pole win her sixth Grand Slam title, the former coach of the Williams sisters and Maria Sharapova, Rick Macci, has predicted her to overtake Sabalenka by the end of the year.
Macci wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter), “It will happen sooner than later as Iga will again be number one on the planet because her mind is made of granite. Not a lot of points to defend and the Polish Punisher will be number one by years end.”
It will happen sooner than later as Iga will again be number one on the planet because her mind is made of granite. Not a lot of points to defend and the Polish Punisher will be number one by years end.
— Rick Macci (@RickMacci) July 20, 2025
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Aryna Sabalenka vs Coco Gauff vs Iga Swiatek in the WTA rankings
Sabalenka currently has a dominant lead over world number two Gauff in the WTA rankings, with nearly 5,000 points separating the two.
The gap is even greater between Sabalenka and Swiatek, but as Macci pointed out the latter has very little ranking points to defend until the end of the season.
After missing multiple tournaments at the end of 2024, with Swiatek being banned for one month, she now only has 830 ranking points to defend this year.
While US Open champion Sabalenka still has 5,025 ranking points to defend this year from her impressive end to the 2024 season.
Despite this, Sabalenka is still first in the race to the WTA Finals and remains in poll position to end the year as world number one once again.
The three-time Grand Slam champion is next scheduled to compete in Cincinnati, with Sabalenka withdrawing from the Canadian Open earlier this week.