Year-end WTA Rankings: Ashleigh Barty makes it three in a row while six players finish in top 10 for first time

WTA Tour
Ashleigh Barty with the Wimbledon trophy

The year-end WTA Rankings for 2021 has been confirmed and Ashleigh Barty has finished at No 1 for the third consecutive season while there were year-end highs for six players in the top 10.

Australian Barty won the most titles this year, including her maiden Wimbledon trophy, while she was also the points leader (6,411) and the prize money leader ($3,945,182).

Besides adding a second Grand Slam title to her collection with her trophy at SW19, Barty also won the Miami Open, Cincinnati Open, Stuttgart Open and Yarra Valley Classic.

She finished the year on 7,582 points, giving her a 1,202 cushion over world No 2 Aryna Sabalenka, who finishes a career-high No 2.

Former world No 1 Garbine Muguruza jumped up to No 3 in the rankings on the back of winning the WTA Finals this week with Karolina Pliskova, French Open champion Barbora Krejickova, Maria Sakkari, Anett Kontaveit, Paula Badosa, Iga Swiatek and Ons Jabeur completing the top 10.

Krejickova, Sakkari, Kontaveit, Badosa, Swiatek and Jabeur all finish the year in the top 10 for the first time in their careers.

The 27-year-old Jabeur this year became the first Arab player – man or woman – to reach the top 10 in either the ATP or WTA Rankings while Sakkari is the first Greek and Kontaveit the first Estonian to reach the top 10.

Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka finishes the year down at 13th after missing the bulk of the season having opted to take time out of the game. The four-time major winner also dropped a lot of points after failing to successfully defend her US Open crown.

American Coco Gauff is the youngest player in the top 20 – aged 17 years and 247 days old – and she finishes at No 17, two spots above fellow teenager Emma Raducanu.

Emma Raducanu’s year-end ranking confirmed as she finishes remarkable season inside top 20

The 19-year-old Raducanu stunned the sporting world in September when she became the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam, beating Leylah Fernandez in the US Open final.

Raducanu will end the year at No 19, having started 2021 at No 343 while two-time Grand Slam winner Simona Halep completes the top 20.

Former world No 1 and 23-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams finishes the year at No 41, her lowest year-end ranking since 2006 when she finished at No 95, while former British No 1 Johanna Konta has dropped to No 111.

Ashleigh Barty Emma Raducanu Naomi Osaka Serena Williams

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