A talented pack of WTA players will spend 2023 chasing world No. 1 Iga Swiatek.
No one will catch her says Martina Navratilova.
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Last September, Swiatek stopped Ons Jabeur 6-2, 7-6(5) to make history as the first Polish woman to win the US Open.
The 21-year-old Swiatek collected her third Grand Slam title, including her second of this season following her Roland Garros final conquest of American Coco Gauff, solidifying her status as the clear world No. 1.
Former world No. 1 Navratilova says Swiatek will go wire-to-wire as world No. 1 next season for two main reasons.
"I don’t see anybody knocking her off—because she’s so consistent," Navratilova told WTATennis.com's Greg Garber. "She wins majors—and she’s consistent. Usually, it’s one or the other.
"She’s got them both going on at the same time. I think to see if she’s making any changes, adding to her game again. This past year, she made more forays to the net, and it made a big difference."
Swiatek holds a 6,030-point lead over world No. 2 Ons Jabeur in the rankings.
US Open and Wimbledon finalist Jabeur will continue her chase of the top spot in 2023. Jabeur is defending just 10 ranking points at the first three Grand Slams next year because she did not play the 2022 Australian Open, fell in the French Open first round and did not receive any ranking points from her Wimbledon finals run as the Tours withdrew all ranking points from The Championships this year in protest of Wimbledon's ban of Russian and Belarusians.
If Jabeur can stay healthy, the Tunisian trailblazer believes she can make a run at No. 1.
"Definitely we'll play each other because she's No. 1, I'm No. 2. Hopefully it will be great matches between us," Jabeur said after the US Open. "But, yeah, she improved a lot I think her forehand and her serve. She's always been solid in the backhand. That's kind of tough.
"Physically she's everywhere. She can bring any ball. It's always tough to play someone that puts one more shot in. Yeah, we'll play each other in the Finals, I think so. Maybe we'll be different groups. I don't know. But, yeah, catching up in the ranking, I know she has a lot of defending points, I have none. That's kind of the goal."
Navratilova cites the versatile Jabeur as one player capable of pushing Swiatek for the top spot but says the Tunisian must deliver her best tennis in the biggest matches to do it.
"She reached the final at both Wimbledon and the US Open. With so many people looking up to her, this takes a lot of effort to handle that pressure," Navratilova said of Jabeur. "She has good energy and the variety to frustrate her opponents. But now she needs to take that next step and come up big during the most pressure moments.
"If she can do that, Jabeur is someone who has the overall game and mindset to disrupt Swiatek’s dominance."
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