WTA Rankings Winners & Losers Australian Open: Aryna Sabalenka holds off Iga Swiatek; Madison Keys +9

Shahida Jacobs
Pictured: Aryna Sabalenka, Madison Keys and Belinda Bencic
From left to right: Aryna Sabalenka, Madison Keys and Belinda Bencic

The battle for the post-Australian Open No 1 spot has been settled with Aryna Sabalenka holding firm while there were several big winners lower down the WTA Rankings.

With Sabalenka beating Paula Badosa in the first semi-final of the opening Grand Slam of the year, the pressure was on Swiatek to beat Madison Keys to take the battle to a shootout in the final.

But American Keys upset the world No 2 to reach her maiden Australian Open final.

Sabalenka has been top of the rankings since she overtook her Polish rival in October last year, but Swiatek moved ahead of her in the Live Rankings at the start of the tournament as the three-time Grand Slam winner dropped 2,000 points as the defending champion.

WTA Top 10 Before Australian Open

1. Aryna Sabalenka – 9,656 points
2. Iga Swiatek Poland – 8,120
3. Coco Gauff United States – 6,888
4. Jasmine Paolini Italy – 5,399
5. Zheng Qinwen China – 5,325
6. Jessica Pegula United States – 4,801
7. Elena Rybakina Kazakhstan – 4,723
8. Emma Navarro United States – 3,409
9. Barbora Krejcikova Czech Republic – 3,214
10. Daria Kasatkina – 3,151

Sabalenka thus had to make her way back up to 9,656 points during the campaign and she dealt well with the pressure as she moved to 8,956 on the back of her win over Badosa.

With Swiatek failing to move past the semi-final, she will leave Melbourne with 8,770 points.

Coco Gauff and Jasmine Paolini will remain third and fourth respectively while Elena Rybakina will move up two places to No 5 and last year’s runner-up Zheng Qinwen is set to drop two spots to No 7 after her early exit.

There are two top-10 returnees with Keys – a former world No 7 – set to climb eight places to No 8 after reaching her second Grand Slam final. She could return to No 7 if she wins the title on Saturday.

Badosa is up two places to No 10.

WTA Top 10 Ahead Of Australian Open Final

1. Aryna Sabalenka – 8,956/9,656
2. Iga Swiatek – 8,770
3. Coco Gauff – 6,538
4. Jasmine Paolini – 5,289
5. Elena Rybakina – 4,893
6. Jessica Pegula – 4,861
7. Zheng Qinwen – 4,095
8. Madison Keys – 3,980
9. Emma Navarro – 3,709
10. Paula Badosa – 3,608

Reigning Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova was the big loser from the top 10 as she will drop five places after withdrawing from the tournament due to injury while Yulia Putintseva is set to make her top 20 debut after reaching the third round at Melbourne Park.

The Winners

The biggest winner was Belinda Bencic as the former world No 4 entered the tournament using her Protected Ranking as she only recently returned to the WTA Tour after giving birth to her first child, a girl, last year.

Her first Grand Slam as a mother went well as she reached the fourth round before losing to Gauff, but she is set to rise 138 places to No 156.

Eva Lys was one of the surprise packages as she became the first lucky loser to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open. The German will jump 37 places to No 91 – well above her previous best of 91.

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Jaqueline Cristian reached the round of 32 and the Romanian is set for a 21-place rise to No 61.

Serbia’s Olga Danilovic is set for a top 50 breakthrough as she will be up 14 places to No 41, just one place above Naomi Osaka who will climb nine spots after reaching the third round.

Former world No 9 Veronika Kudermetova will climb 24 places to No 52 as she made it to the last 16 while Emma Raducanu will get a five-place boost after she reached the third round before losing in straight sets against Swiatek.

The Losers

Besides Krejcikova, there were several other players who will suffer big rankings drops after the tournament.

Fellow Czech Linda Noskova reached the quarter-final in Melbourne last year, but she lost in the first round this year and will slip 10 places to No 38.

Dayana Yastremska was a semi-finalist in 2024, but lost in the third round in 2025 and she will drop 39 spots out of the top 50 to No 72.

2017 US Open winner Sloane Stephens reached the last four of the Australian Open in 2013, but she has struggled in recent years and will now slip out of the top 100 to No 104.

Océane Dodin, who enjoyed a run to the fourth round last year, will slide 60 places to No 175 as she didn’t play in the season-opening Grand Slam.