WTA Rankings Winners & Losers Wuhan Open: Sabalenka denies Swiatek; Gauff’s boost, Mboko, Raducanu miss out
Aryna Sabalenka missed out on a four-peat at the Wuhan Open, but she did enough to win the year-end No 1 WTA Ranking battle with Iga Swiatek while Coco Gauff did her chances of securing the American No 1 ranking no harm.
Having won the tournament in 2018, 2019 and 2024, Sabalenka was looking to make it four in a row (the 2020-2023 editions were cancelled due to COVID-19), but her streak was ended by Jessica Pegula in the semi-final.
Although the world No 1 dropped points after being unable to defend her title, she was always guaranteed to remain at the top of the rankings after the tournament while Swiatek’s defeat in the quarter-final also gave her more reason to celebrate.
WTA Top 10 Before Wuhan Open
1. Aryna Sabalenka – 11,010
2. Iga Swiatek – 8,553
3. Coco Gauff – 7,263
4. Amanda Anisimova – 5,989
5. Mirra Andreeva – 4,698
6. Jessica Pegula – 4,653
7. Madison Keys – 4,459
8. Jasmine Paolini – 4,156
9. Elena Rybakina – 3,898
10. Zheng Qinwen – 3,678
As the defending champion, Sabalenka dropped 1000 points at the start of the tournament, but earned 390 for reaching the semi-final so she will be on 10,000 points when the WTA Rankings are updated on Monday.
Although Swiatek added 215 points to her tally, it means she is now more than 1,600 points behind the four-time Grand Slam winner and, with only the WTA Finals still left on the calendar, she won’t be able to reclaim the No 1 ranking before the year is out.
Reigning Wimbledon champion Swiatek, though, is set to finish No 2 with Gauff’s run to the final not enough to keep her hopes alive.
WTA Features
Aryna Sabalenka and Jasmine Paolini’s prize money and points from the Wuhan Open
The 6 most shocking defeats of Iga Swiatek’s season as former No 1 crashes out of Wuhan Open
Gauff will face fellow American Jessica Pegula in the showpiece match in Wuhan and her run to the final has given her breathing space in terms of the American No 1 fight with Amanda Anisimova.
Following Anisimova’s title at the China Open, she closed the gap to third place to 1,274 and with Gauff set to drop 1,300 points at the WTA Finals, the 26-year-old was in a good position to over her compatriot.
But Gauff has increased her advantage to 1,589 and that will increase to 1,939 if she wins the title.
Pegula, meanwhile, has moved up one place to No 5 with Mirra Andreeva dropping one spot after her early exit.
Meanwhile, Ekaterina Alexandrova is set to make her top-10 debut after reaching the last 16.
WTA Top 10 Live Rankings
1. Aryna Sabalenka – 10,400
2. Iga Swiatek – 8,768
3. Coco Gauff – 7,523/7,873
4. Amanda Anisimova – 5,934
5. Jessica Pegula – 5,183/5,533
6. Mirra Andreeva – 4,643
7. Madison Keys – 4,450
8. Jasmine Paolini – 4,331
9. Elena Rybakina – 4,113
10. Ekaterina Alexandrova
Wuhan Open Winners
Qualifier Katerina Siniakova and Laura Siegemund were the only two unseeded players to reach the quarter-final and the former will move up 17 places to No 45 following her run while Siegemund is projected to rise 18 places to No 39.
Although there were no major surges into the top 100, players who are set to crack new career-highs in the top 50 on Monday are Maya Joint (No 34), Iva Jovic (No 35), Ann Li (No 42), Eva Lys (No 44) and Emiliana Arango (No 46).
Outuside the top 100, former world No 22 Zhang Shuai received a wildcard entry into the main draw and she upset 14th seed Emma Navarro in the first round and ended up reaching the last 16, earning 23-place boost to No 119.
Wuhan Open Losers
Zheng will exit the top 10 as she will drop one spot to No 11 after the Chinese star withdrew from her home tournament.
Magda Linette, Magdalena Frech and Wang Xinyu all reached the quarter-finals at the 2024 edition, but failed to produce that form this year and they will all suffer drops in the rankings.
Linett is -16 to No 56, Wang is -25 to No 62 and Frech is -10 to No 63.
Those Who Missed Out
With very little on the line in terms of points to defend, Naomi Osaka, Victoria Mboko and Emma Raducanu had a chance to surge up the rankings, but they failed to live up to their potential.
Osaka lost in the second round against Linda Noskova and remains at No 16 while Mboko was beaten by Alexandrova in the first round and remains at No 25. Raducanu lost in the first round against Li, but will move up one place to No 29.
