WTA Rankings: Sabalenka’s 74th week at No 1, Mboko and Jovic at new highs, Preston +43 after Raducanu win
There were minimal changes in the top 20 of the WTA Rankings at the start of the 2026 Australian Open, but there were some big winners further down the rankings.
Four-time Grand Slam winner Aryna Sabalenka continues to lead the pack at the top as she has a 2,662-point lead over second-placed Iga Swiatek although that gap will be reduced once the players drop points from last year’s Australian Open.
World No 1 Sabalenka will drop 1,300 points after finishing runner-up to Madison Keys in 2025 while Swiatek lost in the semi-final, so she will drop 780 points, which means the Belarusian is assured of remaining top even if the Pole outperforms her at Melbourne Park.
The 27-year-old has now spent 65 consecutive weeks at No 1 for an overall total of 74 weeks to put her in 11th on the all-time standings for most weeks at the top, with 10th spot waving at her as Lindsay Davenport is on 98 weeks.
The top six remain unchanged with Swiatek followed by Coco Gauff, Amanda Anisimova, Elena Rybakina and Jessica Pegula, although there are likely to be a few changes after the season-opening Grand Slam at Melbourne Park.
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The battle to No 3 and American No 1 is tightly contested one with Gauff and Anisimova separated by just 103 points.
The only change in the top 10 sees Mirra Andreeva up one place to No 7 following her title run at the Adelaide International while the player she beat in the final, Victoria Mboko, also climbed one spot to a new career-high of No 16.
Those are the only two changes in the top 20 with the big movers coming further down.
Elisabetta Cocciaretto was the other title winner last week as she lifted the Hobart International trophy and earned a 24-place surge to No 56 while runner-up Iva Jovic is up three spots to a new high of No 27.
Other players to achieve new highs are No 31 Maya Joint (+1), No 35 Jaqueline Cristian (+2), No 57 Tereza Valentova (+6),
Australian Taylah Preston, who beat Emma Raducanu in the quarter-final in Hobart, was rewarded with a 43-place jump to No 161 after making the most of her wildcard to reach the last four.
WTA Rankings Top 20
1. Aryna Sabalenka – 10,990 points
2. Iga Swiatek Poland – 8,328
3. Coco Gauff United States – 6,423
4. Amanda Anisimova United States – 6,320
5. Elena Rybakina Kazakhstan – 5,850
6. Jessica Pegula United States – 5,453
7. Mirra Andreeva – 4,731 (+1)
8. Jasmine Paolini Italy – 4,267 (+1)
9. Madison Keys United States – 4,051
10. Belinda Bencic Switzerland – 3,512
11. Ekaterina Alexandrova – 3,375
12. Elina Svitolina Ukraine – 2,856
13. Linda Noskova Czech Republic – 2,641
14. Clara Tauson Denmark – 2,530
15. Emma Navarro United States – 2,515
16. Victoria Mboko Canada – 2,447 (+1)
17. Naomi Osaka Japan – 2,366 (-1)
18. Luidmila Sansonova – 2,122
19. Karolina Muchova Czech Republic – 2,083
20. Marta Kostyuk Ukraine – 1,983
