Coco Gauff unofficially the new No 2 in the WTA Rankings – what she needs to do to stay ahead of Aryna Sabalenka
Coco Gauff is on the verge of reaching a new career-high of No 2 in the WTA Rankings as she has overtaken Aryna Sabalenka in the Live Rankings, but what does she have to do at this week’s Madrid Open to stay there?
The duo are behind Iga Swiatek in the rankings and officially Sabalenka sits at No 2 ahead of Gauff as she has a 590-point lead over the American.
Top 4 In Official WTA Rankings
1. Iga Swiatek 10,560 points
2. Aryna Sabalenka 7,848
3. Coco Gauff 7,258
4. Elena Rybakina 6,293
Sabalenka, though, is the defending champion at this week’s WTA 1000 event in Spain and will drop 1,000 points while Gauff will drop only 65 points as she reached the third round at the clay-court event last year.
It means the American has edged ahead of the reigning Australian Open champion in the Live Rankings as she finds herself with a 345-point advantage.
To add another twist to the battle for the No 2 ranking, newly crowned Porsche Tennis Grand Prix champion Elena Rybakina is also in contention as she has no points to defend in Madrid.
READ MORE: WTA Rankings: Iga Swiatek hits magical 100, Coco Gauff eyes career-high, Marta Kostyuk +6
The former Wimbledon winner is 565 points behind Sabalenka in the Live Rankings following her WTA 500 title run.
Top 4 in Live WTA Rankings
1. Iga Swiatek 9,920
2. Coco Gauff 7,203
3. Aryna Sabalenka 6,858
4. Elena Rybakina 6,293
The math is simple for Rybakina as she needs to win the title to stand any chance of climbing to No 2 for the first time in her career as the maximum points she can get is 7,293.
The same goes for Sabalenka, if she wins the title she stays at No 2 even if Gauff finishes runner-up as the difference will be five points with the Belarusian edging the battle.
The tricky part of Sabalenka is she needs to reach at least the semi-final to stand any chance of staying ahead as a run to the last four is worth 360 points.
But to complicate things further, the deficit is 345 points and if Gauff reaches the third round then her lead will grow to 410 points, meaning Sabalenka will have to finish at least runner-up.
The next marker is the semi-final as if Gauff reaches the last four then Sabalenka has to win the title as the gap will be 735 points.
Sabalenka and Gauff – who are coming off quarter-final defeats in Stuttgart – find themselves in opposite halves of the draw so they can only meet in the final.
Gauff, though, will likely have to get past world No 1 Swiatek in the semi-final while Sabalenka is projected to meet Rybakina in the last four.
