Aryna Sabalenka has retained her leading position in the WTA rankings

Currently, the Belarusian athlete has 8.575 points, while her closest rival, Elena Rybakina from Kazakhstan, has 8.141 points; the gap is only 434 points. The rating of another Belarusian athlete, Aliaksandra Sasnovich, has risen by two places — to 136^th place. The final, fourth Grand Slam tournament of the season, the US Open, will start in New York this coming Sunday. World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka will be defending her title. She can be joined in the main draw by three other Belarusian players. These are Aliaksandra Sasnovich, Irina Shimanovich, and Alena Faley. All of them will be competing from the first preliminary round.