WTA Rankings: Aryna Sabalenka back at No 2, Paula Badosa +9, Taylor Townsend secures top 50 milestone
Aryna Sabalenka was the big winner at the Cincinnati Open both with her title run and in the rankings, but Iga Swiatek remains clear at the top of the WTA Rankings.
Two-time Australian Open champion Sabalenka not only beat her biggest rival Swiatek in the semi-final of the WTA 1000 event, but she went on to lift the trophy as she defeated Jessica Pegula 6-3, 7-5.
Sabalenka added 650 points to her tally and, with defending champion Coco Gauff losing early in the tournament, the Belarusian has returned to No 2 in the rankings for the first time since May, overtaking the American.
Swiatek leads the standings with 10,695 points with Sabalenka 2,679 points adrift and Gauff now third on 6,743 points.
There is good news for Swiatek ahead of the US Open as she only has 180 points to defend while Sabalenka will drop 1,300 points after finishing runner-up to Gauff – who has 2,000 points to defend – at Flushing Meadows last year.
A poor run in New York could see drop Gauff drop to No 6 after the final Grand Slam of the year while Sabalenka has a warning ahead of the US Open.
“I would say that I’m really playing great tennis probably not like the best tennis I can play, but I’m definitely getting there,” she said.
“And with every match I play, I feel better, better and better and hopefully at the US Open, I can keep building the level, and I can, I can reach maybe even higher level than I used to play.”
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There are three other changes in the top 10 of the latest rankings with Barbora Krejcikova moving up one spot to No 8 while Maria Sakkari drops to No 9 after missing the Cincinnati Open. Jelena Ostapenko returns to the top 10 with Danielle Collins dropping to No 11.
Diana Shnaider continued her incredible run as the 20-year-old moved up to two places to a career-high No 18 while fellow Russian Mirra Andreeva also achieved a new best as she is up three spots and sits at No 21.
Former world No 2 Paula Badosa is back in the top 30 as she jumped nine places to No 27 after reaching the semi-final in Cincinnati.
Further down the list Taylor Townsend has cracked the top 50 for the first time in her career as she moved up five places to No 46. The American came through qualifying and reached the third round of the WTA 1000 event, just a week after reaching the quarter-final of the Canadian Open.
Karolina Muchova finished runner-up to Gauff in Cincinnati last year, but she dropped 17 places to No 52 after losing in the second round this year.
WTA Rankings Top 20
1. Iga Swiatek Poland – 10,695 points
2. Aryna Sabalenka – 8,016
3. Coco Gauff United States – 6,743
4. Elena Rybakina Kazakhstan – 5,931
5. Jasmine Paolini Italy – 5,168
6. Jessica Pegula United States – 5,160
7. Qinwen Zheng China – 3,980
8. Barbora Krejcikova Czech Republic – 3,571
9. Maria Sakkari Greece – 3,515
10. Jelena Ostapenko Latvia – 3,428
11. Danielle Collins United States – 3,422
12. Daria Kasatkina – 2,973
13. Emma Navarro United States – 2,950
14. Madison Keys United States – 2,727,
15. Anna Kalinskaya – 2,712
16. Liudmila Samsonova – 2,610
17. Ons Jabeur Tunisia – 2,451
18. Diana Shnaider – 2,385
19. Marta Kostyuk Ukraine – 2,348
20. Victoria Azarenka – 2,266
