How many titles has Aryna Sabalenka won in 2024?

For the first time since 2019, the WTA 1000 event returned to the WTA Tour schedule, and Aryna Sabalenka made a winning comeback to Wuhan. She is currently the current hard court event queen and the first three-time champion at the venue. The win also propelled her to the top spot in the rankings.

Sabalenka has already won four titles in the 2024 season, all of which have come on hard courts. Her win in Wuhan ensured that she would be on top of the rankings. At this point, the 26-year-old has accumulated 9706 points. After Wimbledon, Sabalenka was more than 4,000 points behind the leader, but she has now climbed to the top.

Sabalenka guaranteed herself a spot at this year's September WTA Finals, a month after reigning champion Iga Swiatek did the same. For the fourth year in a row, Sabalenka will be attending the season-ending championship. She made it to the semifinals last year and finished second in 2022. This time, Sabalenka could take the title if she keeps up her form on the hard courts.

The Belarusian, who is currently ranked as the world's top player in the WTA rankings, is just 41 points ahead of Iga Swiatek, who is in second place. Swiatek's confidence on the court might be impacted if she loses her top ranking prior to the WTA Finals. In the last nine weeks, Sabalenka has accumulated 4,000 points, marking an incredible comeback.

After debuting in the main draw in 2017, Sabalenka's most successful season to date is 2024. Let us now look at the Belorussian’s title wins this season.

Australian Open

Aryna Sabalenka successfully defended her 2023 Australian Open title with a masterful display of tennis. She halted Qinwen Zheng’s bid to win the title with a 6-3, 6-2 win in just 76 minutes. Sabalenka became the first player to win the title without dropping serve since Serena Williams in 2007 with a dominant performance over the course of the two weeks. 

She is also the first player since her countrywoman Victoria Azarenka in 2013 to record back-to-back victories in 11 years. Sabalenka also took on the mantle as the first player since Azarenka that year to successfully defend an Australian Open crown, ending a four-year run with a different champion each time.

Cincinnati Open

Similar to her victory at the Australian Open in January, Sabalenka won the Cincinnati Open without dropping a set. She defeated Swiatek and Jessica Pegula back-to-back for her second crown of the season. By defeating Swiatek in the last four, Sabalenka made up for the loss at the Madrid Open, when she was on match point against the Pole.

Sabalenka became the third active player to win more than five WTA 1000 titles with her sixth victory in Cincinnati. Swiatek and Azarenka have won 10 each.

In addition to breaking Pegula's nine-match winning streak, Sabalenka moved back up to No. 2 in the WTA rankings by surpassing Coco Gauff.

US Open

The 2024 US Open final saw Aryna Sabalenka lift the title for the first time, making it a sweet win. After two previous years' semi-final appearances, she came close in 2023 but lost to Coco Gauff in the final. 

Under the roof of Arthur Ashe Stadium, Sabalenka defeated American Jessica Pegula in 1 hour and 53 minutes to win her third Grand Slam singles title. She defeated Pegula 7-5, 7-5, giving the World No. 6 her second consecutive set loss in a final in as many weeks. A week prior to her arrival in New York, Sabalenka had triumphed over Pegula in Cincinnati.

Wuhan Open

Sabalenka made her way to the Wuhan Open, eyeing a historic three-peat. She completed the venue's hat-trick by adding to her 2018 and 2019 titles at the 10th and final WTA 1000 tournament of the season. 

In front of 13,000 spectators at the Optics Valley International Tennis Center, she put an end to home favorite Qinwen Zheng's title challenge. In a rematch of their Australian Open final, Sabalenka defeated the World No. 7 from China 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 to win the title and maintain her 4-0 head-to-head winning streak.

After Zheng took a set off Sabalenka for the first time, the Belarusian responded by winning the decider to hand Zheng her second defeat of the season in two hours and 40 minutes.  

After defeating a helpless Magdalena Frech in the final eight with a flurry of 42 winners, Sabalenka completed the trifecta of victories at Wuhan. She then fought back after losing the first set to Gauff in the semi-finals to prevail in three sets, after the American hit a season-high 21 double faults in the match.

Cover Credits - US Open