WTA Rankings: Iga Swiatek’s unique feat set to continue after Italian Open exit
Iga Swiatek will drop out of the top two of the WTA Rankings for the first time since 2022 following her early exit from the Italian Open.
But here is a fun fact: Swiatek is set to fall to No 4, meaning she still hasn’t been ranked at No 3 in the world since making her top-level debut.
The five-time Grand Slam winner is currently experiencing one of her worst runs of form as she hasn’t won a title since lifting the French Open trophy in June 2024.
Swiatek has failed to reach a WTA Tour final since she won her fourth title at Roland Garros just over a year ago with her latest defeat a third-round loss to Danielle Collins in Rome, where she was the defending champion.
It is easily her earliest exit from the Italian Open, a tournament she has won three times.
The Pole started the WTA 1000 event second behind Aryna Sabalenka in the WTA Rankings with Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula not too far behind.
WTA Top Five Before Italian Open
1. Aryna Sabalenka – 11,118
2. Iga Swiatek – 6,773
3. Coco Gauff – 6,603
4. Jessica Pegula – 6,243
5. Jasmine Paolini – 4,875
Swiatek, though, will slip a couple of places down the rankings after failing to defend her 1,000 points at Foro Italico as she will leave with -935 points while Sabalenka and Gauff are still alive in the tournament.
Even though Pegula also lost in the round of 32, the American will move ahead of Swiatek in the rankings after the tournament as she didn’t have any points to defend from the previous year.
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For now, Swiatek has slumped to No 4 in the Live Rankings, but she could drop as low as fifth if Jasmine Paolini – who has also reached the quarter-final – wins the title.
Live Rankings Ahead Of Rome Quarter-Final (Maximum points available)
1. Sabalenka – 10,683 (11,468)
2. Gauff – 6,418 (7,203)
3. Pegula – 6,243
4. Swiatek – 5,838
5. Paolini – 5,080 (5,865)
But it does mean Swiatek will continue her incredible streak of never being ranked No 3.
The Pole made her top 10 debut before the 2021 French Open and she has been an ever-present member since then.
She reached a career-high No 9 in May 2021, climbed to No 8 in July, No 6 in September, No 4 in October before dropping back to No 9 after the WTA Finals in November.
Swiatek rose to a new high of No 4 in March 2022 and then skipped No 3 as she jumped to No 2 after winning the Indian Wells Open that year.
With Ashleigh Barty retiring coupled with the Pole’s title run at the Miami Open, Swiatek then became world No 1 for the first time in April 2022.
And she spent the next three years alternating between No 1 and No 2 in the WTA Rankings for a total of 165 weeks, which puts her ninth in the all-time list for most weeks in the top two of the rankings.
Martina Navratilova leads that particular list with 612 weeks.
In total, Swiatek has spent 125 weeks at No 1 and 40 weeks at No 2, but zero weeks at No 3 and she will keep that record after the Italian Open with her drop to No 4.
