The Belarusian tennis star is in second place in the WTA rankings behind Iga Swiatek and is hoping to make up the 2,169-point difference in the closing weeks of the season.

Sabalenka said: "Of course that's one of my goals, to finish the season at world number one.

"I'm not trying to focus on that, I'm trying to focus on my own game. There are only three tournaments left.

"I'm just trying to bring my best tennis on court. After the season, I'll see if it was enough to finish the year at number one or have to improve something else to get to number one."

The three-time Grand Slam champion has a chance to eat into Swiatek's advantage at the top at the China Open because the Polish player is not competing in Beijing and Sabalenka thinks that year-end world number one would be the perfect way to end an excellent 2024.

She said: "To be called the best player in the world, that means everything.

"It's good to know that you've been doing the right thing, all of those hours of training wasn't a waste of time."

Sabalenka briefly topped the rankings last year and also spoke of her ambition to do so again after triumphing at the US Open earlier this month.

She told the WTA Insider podcast: "I'm still hungry, for sure.

"Another goal for sure is to try to become world No.1 again. But I don't want to talk about this goal. I'm just trying to keep improving myself and keep getting better every day."