Sabalenka, Swiatek, Gauff, Pegula – which WTA stars are defending the most points at the Madrid Open?

Ewan West
Pictured: Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula
Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula

The biggest stars on the WTA Tour will begin their campaigns at the Madrid Open at the second round stage, but how many points are players defending from the 2024 event?

World No 2 Iga Swiatek is the reigning champion, having beaten Aryna Sabalenka in an epic 2024 championship match.

The draw at the WTA 1000 tournament in Madrid features 96 players, including 12 qualifiers and eight wildcards. The 32 seeds receive a bye into the second round.

Madrid Open WTA Ranking Points Breakdown

Winner: 1000 points
Finalist: 650 points
Semi-finalists: 390 points
Quarter-finalists: 215 points
Round of 16: 120 points
Third round: 65 points
Second round: 35 points
First round: 10 points

Swiatek, who has not reached a final since winning her fifth Grand Slam title at last year’s French Open, is defending 1,000 points in Madrid.

World No 1 Sabalenka is defending 650 points from her runner-up result a year ago, and she will maintain a sizeable lead over Swiatek irrespective of what happens in the tournament.

Jessica Pegula missed the entire 2024 clay season through injury, so she can only increase her points tally in Madrid.

The American enters the tournament only 175 points adrift of Swiatek in the live rankings and, therefore, has an opportunity to overtake the Polish star.

Coco Gauff, the world No 4, is defending 120 points from her fourth round result in Madrid last year.

The former US Open winner also has a chance to finish the event ranked second if she outperforms Swiatek and Pegula.

Madison Keys and Elena Rybakina are each defending 390 points having been semi-finalists in 2024, while Jasmine Paolini is dropping 110 points.

WTA Tour News

WTA Rankings: Aryna Sabalenka extends lead over Iga Swiatek, Jelena Ostapenko +6, Olga Danilovic’s milestone

The 10 greatest female clay-courters of the Open Era – ranked!

Zheng Qinwen and Paula Badosa are not defending any points after losing their opening matches at the 1000 tournament a year ago.

Mirra Andreeva, Ons Jabeur, Beatriz Haddad Maia and Yulia Putintseva are all defending 205 points having exited at the quarter-final stage in 2024.

Emma Raducanu is dropping just 10 points from her first round defeat in Madrid last year.

Live Rankings After Madrid Points Dropped

1. Aryna Sabalenka – 10,128
2. Iga Swiatek, Poland – 6,393
3. Jessica Pegula, United States – 6,218
4. Coco Gauff, United States – 5,963
5. Jasmine Paolini, Italy – 4,820 (+1)
6. Madison Keys, United States – 4,619 (-1)
7. Mirra Andreeva – 4,576
8. Zheng Qinwen, China – 4,193
9. Paula Badosa, Spain – 3,821
10. Emma Navarro, United States – 3,742
11. Karolina Muchova, Czech Republic – 2,929 (+1)
12. Elena Rybakina, Kazakhstan – 2,928 (-1)
13. Diana Shnaider – 2,913
14. Barbora Krejcikova, Czech Republic – 2,664 (+1)
15. Daria Kasatkina, Australia – 2,631 (-1)
16. Amanda Anisimova, United States – 2,617
17. Elina Svitolina, Ukraine – 2,430
18. Jelena Ostapenko, Latvia – 2,235
19. Donna Vekic, Croatia – 2,116 (+2)
20. Liudmila Samsonova – 2,095

The 10 points received for a first round bye have been added to the tallies above.

READ NEXT: Alex Eala close to Naomi Osaka record as she books Iga Swiatek rematch in Madrid