WTA Rankings Race To Riyadh: Sabalenka leads usual suspects as Paolini surges into contention
The top four of the WTA Rankings Race To Riyadh remain unchanged with Aryna Sabalenka comfortably at No 1 while Jasmine Paolini’s Italian Open title run has seen her surge into running for places at the season finale.
Sabalenka has been leading the pack since she took over from Australian Open champion Madison Keys after the Miami Open and she has increased her lead to 1,771 points over her American challenger.
The three-time Grand Slam winner sits on 5,120 points and the bulk of her points have come from her runners-up finish at Melbourne Park and her title runs at Miami, Madrid and Brisbane while she was also a finalist in Indian Wells and Stuttgart.
Although Sabalenka has a massive advantage, there are still three Grand Slams and four WTA 1000 events (a total of 10,000 points) remaining on the 2025 WTA Tour ahead of the tournament in Riyadh.
Eight players will compete for the biggest prize pot in women’s tennis in Saudi Arabia with Coco Gauff the defending champion after she beat Zheng Qinwen in the 2024 final.
The women who occupy the top seven places in the Rankings Race To Riyadh at the end of the regular season will secure their places at the tournament while one place is reserved for a current-year Grand Slam winner who is ranked between eighth and 20th.
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Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova finished outside the top 10 of the WTA Rankings in 2024, but qualified for the season-ending tournament thanks to the Grand Slam champion rule.
If the four major champions are in the top seven, then the final spot goes to the person ranked eighth while two spots are available for alternates.
Madison Keys has so far won the only Grand Slam of 2025, the Australian Open, and she remains second with Mirra Andreeva third following her two WTA 1000 trophies.
Five-time Grand Slam winner Iga Swiatek sits fourth despite her poor run of form with the Pole yet to reach a final this season.
Reigning French Open winner Swiatek is followed by American Gauff, who moved up one place after finishing runner-up to Paolini at the Italian Open, and Jessica Pegula.
Paolini was a big mover as she surged nine places after earning 1,000 points in Rome, sitting in seventh place with Svitolina in eighth.
Emma Navarro and Ekaterina Alexandrova currently occupy the alternate places with Clara Tauson and Amanda Anisimova just outside the top 10.
Top 12 In WTA Rankings Race
1. Aryna Sabalenka – 5,120
2. Madison Keys – 3,349
3. Mirra Andreeva – 3,055
4. Iga Swiatek – 2,878
5. Coco Gauff – 2,598 (+1)
6. Jessica Pegula – 2,548 (-1)
7. Jasmine Paolini – 2,230 (+9)
8. Elina Svitolina – 1,751 (-1)
9. Emma Navarro – 1,542
10. Ekaterina Alexandrova – 1,501 (-2)
11. Clara Tauson – 1,496 (+1)
12. Amanda Anisimova – 1,480 (-2)
