Live WTA Rankings: How Iga Swiatek can overtake Elena Rybakina at No 2 as Coco Gauff looks to surpass Pole

Elena Rybakina’s shock early exit from the French Open has opened the door for Iga Swiatek to return to No 2 in the rankings while the Pole is close to holding off Coco Gauff.

Reigning Australian Open champion Rybakina was one of the favourites to win this year’s title at Roland Garros and, having chipped away at Aryna Sabalenka’s lead at the top of the WTA Rankings in recent months, she had an opportunity to over the Belarusian at No 1.

But she ran into a determined Yuliia Starodubtseva in the second round on Court Suzanne Lenglen and the Ukrainian came away with a 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (10-4) to secure her first-ever win over a top-five player.

Starodubtseva’s win means the two-time Grand Slam winner’s wait to become world No 1 will continue until at least Wimbledon.

Rybakina admitted that the defeat came out of nowhere, saying: “It’s just a pity, ​because I think I was practising well before the French Open and ​I was feeling good.

“I thought that I can raise the level, but actually today it was a very bad performance, too many unforced errors, and yeah, I didn’t feel the greatest. I was trying to find a way, but it clearly didn’t work.

“I won’t say that ​physically I felt really bad. There have been matches when I felt worse. Definitely, the energy wasn’t there. I just ​couldn’t find the right balance on the ball.”

But her exit means she could lose second spot in the rankings.

WTA Rankings Before French Open

1. Aryna Sabalenka – 9,960
2. Elena Rybakina – 8,313
3. Iga Swiatek – 7,273
4. Coco Gauff – 6,749
5. Jessica Pegula – 6,286

Sabalenka has been top of the rankings since October 2024, but having finished runner-up to Gauff in Paris 12 months ago, she dropped 1,300 points at the start of the tournament.

Rybakina’s early exit meant that a run to the semi-final or the final could have been enough to take over from the four-time Grand Slam winner after the tournament.

But her No 1 hopes are over for now and she could even slip to No 3 after the tournament, although the second-placed Swiatek has a tough task on her hands as she can only move ahead of the Kazakh star with a title run.

Live WTA Rankings

1. Aryna Sabalenka – 8,730
2. Elena Rybakina – 8,143
3. Iga Swiatek – 6,623
4. Jessica Pegula – 6,056
5. Amanda Anisimova – 5,788
6. Coco Gauff – 4,819

Swiatek has already booked her place in the third round, but there is good news for Rybakina as the Pole can only move ahead of her in the rankings by winning the title as she would end up 8,493. A runner-up spot would put her on 7,793 points.

Meanwhile, Swiatek could still lose out on third place with Amanda Anisimova and Gauff in with a chance.

Anisimova will need to reach at least the final to overtake Swiatek’s current 6,623 Live WTA Ranking points while Gauff – who dropped 2,000 points as the defending champion – can only move ahead if she wins the title.

Of course, both would need Swiatek to lose in the next round.

Jessica Pegula is no longer in contention for a move up the rankings as the American was upset by Kimberley Birrell in the first round.