Belarusian tennis ace Aryna Sabalenka declared after her US Open win that she is chasing the World No.1 ranking. However, it looked like an uphill task considering Iga Swiatek was leading by more than 2000 ranking points. But the tables have turned now.
With Sabalenka clinching the title at the Wuhan Open, she took a big chunk of that lead and now threatens to dethrone the Polish ace. She has brought the deficit down to a mere 69 points with her win at the WTA 1000 tournament. The World No. 2 now has 9716 ranking points as compared to Swiatek’s 9785.
The Pole suffered a setback due to her non-participation in the China Open and the Wuhan Open. Meanwhile, Sabalenka played in both tournaments. While she could not make it through to the final in Beijing (losing to Karolina Muchova in the quarterfinals), Sabalenka went all the way in Wuhan, lifting her third consecutive title at the Masters tournament. She beat Qinwen Zheng 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 in 2 hours and 40 minutes.
After this win, Sabalenka has 9091 points from 18 tournaments this season. Swiatek, meanwhile, has 8285 points in the live rankings in the same number of tournaments. Although Swiatek has saved her No. 1 throne, the Belarusian threatens to take it any moment now.
Sabalenka said that she was happy about the gap getting reduced and reiterated that becoming the top-ranked player remains one of her goals.
Sabalenka has two more tournaments to add to her ranking points. She is set to play the WTA 500 tournament in Tokyo before the WTA Finals in Riyadh.
Coco Gauff climbs three places in the WTA rankings
There were some changes to the WTA rankings. Coco Gauff benefitted from her title win in China and a semifinal qualification in Wuhan, gaining three positions to become the World No. 3 once again. Meanwhile, Jessica Pegula, Elena Rybakina, and Jasmine Paolini slipped one place each to occupy the fourth, fifth, and sixth positions respectively.
Qinwen Zheng and Emma Navarro retained their seventh and eighth positions, respectively. Meanwhile, Danielle Collins jumped two places to occupy the ninth position. The biggest gainer in the new WTA rankings was Beatriz Haddad Maia, who climbed six places to now be ranked World No. 10.
Updated WTA rankings (Top 10):
Rank | Player | Region | Tournaments Played | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 – | Iga Swiatek | POL | 19 | 9785 |
2 – | Aryna Sabalenka | BLR | 19 | 9716 |
3 (+3) | Coco Gauff | USA | 20 | 5973 |
4 (-1) | Jessica Pegula | USA | 20 | 5785 |
5 (-1) | Elena Rybakina | KAZ | 20 | 5373 |
6 (-1) | Jasmine Paolini | ITA | 20 | 5323 |
7 – | Qinwen Zheng | CHN | 20 | 4430 |
8 – | Emma Navarro | USA | 29 | 3698 |
9 (+2) | Danielle Collins | USA | 21 | 3176 |
10 (+6) | Beatriz Haddad Maia | BRA | 26 | 3146 |