Swiatek finishes number one despite Masters loss

Paris: Poland’s Iga Swiatek may have failed to add the WTA Finals title to her French and US Open crowns but finishes the year a dominant number one in the women’s tennis rankings.The 21-year-old extended her points advantage over world number two Ons Jabeur of Tunisia despite losing to big-serving Belarus Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals in Texas last week.It is the first time Swiatek has finished on top of the year end rankings. Swiatek’s remarkable season included eight singles titles and a run of 37 straight match victories. Sabalenka ended her 15-match winning streak against top 10 players.Swiatek’s path to the top was eased by the shock retirement in March of Australia’s Ashleigh Barty, who finished number one from 2019-2021.Sabalenka lost in the final to France’s Caroline Garcia – who became the second French woman to win the title following Amelie Mauresmo in 2005.Both finalists in the WTA season-ender in Texas on Monday rise two places – Garcia to fourth and Sabalenka to fifth. WTA rankings (Russia and Belarus athletes not allowed to represent their nations because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine):1. Iga Swiatek (POL) 11085 pts2. Ons Jabeur (TUN) 50553. Jessica Pegula (USA) 46914. C Garcia (FRA) 4375 (+2)5. Aryna Sabalenka 3925 (+2)6. Maria Sakkari (GRE) 3871 (-1)7. Coco Gauff (USA) 3646 (-3)8. Daria Kasatkina 34359. Veronika Kudermetova 279510. Simona Halep (ROM) 266111. Madison Keys (USA) 241712. B Bencic (SUI) 2365 (+1)13. Paula Badosa (ESP) 2363 (-1)14. Danielle Collins (USA) 229215. B Haddad Maia (BRA) 221516. Petra Kvitova (CZE) 209717. Anett Kontaveit (EST) 209318. Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) 198619. Ekaterina Alexandrova 191020. Liudmila Samsonova 1910