WTA Rankings: Sabalenka’s huge lead, Swiatek under pressure from Gauff; Eala’s new high
Aryna Sabalenka has pulled away from Iga Swiatek in the WTA Rankings after another dominant run at the Madrid Open while there was also a nice bump for Naomi Osaka thanks to her performance elsewhere.
The story of the week was very much Sabalenka hitting her peak in the rankings as she has become only the third player after Serena Williams and Iga Swiatek to break the 11,000-point barrier.
The three-time Grand Slam winner’s title run at the Miami Open helped her to a new 11,118-point milestone and she now has an astonishing 4,345-point advantage over Swiatek after the Pole’s semi-final exit.
Sabalenka started her 28th consecutive week at No 1 in the rankings on Monday to take her overall tally to 36, which puts 15th on the all-time list for most weeks at the top, but she is assured of moving up in the coming weeks thanks to her mammoth lead.
Amélie Mauresmo on 39 weeks in 14th place will be overtaken while Victoria Azarenka (51) will also come under pressure.
Sabalenka’s win over Gauff in the Spanish capital was good news for Swiatek as she managed to hang onto second-place in the rankings, but she faces another uphill taks at the Italian Open.
Swiatek effectively dropped 610 points in Madrid after failing to defend her title and she is under pressure from Gauff as the American closed the gap to 170 points after finishing runner-up.
If Swiatek fails to defend her title in Rome, then she could drop not only below Gauff, but also Jessica Pegula in the rankings after the tournament.
Jasime Paolini completes the top five as she moved up one place with Madison Keys down to sixth while further down Emma Navarro and Paolo Badosa swap places after the latter withdrew from the Madrid event.
Diana Shnaider is up to two places to a career-high No 12 while Elina Svitolina climbed three spots to No 14 after reaching the semi-finals.
Marta Kostyuk lost in the last eight against Sabalenka, but she is rewarded with a nine-place jump to No 27 while fellow quarter-finalist Moyuka Uchijima is also up nine spots to No 49.
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Just behind Uchijima sits four-time Grand Slam winner Osaka as she climbed seven places after winning the WTA 125 Challenger event in Saint-Malo.
After losing in the first round in Madrid, the former world No 1 signed up for the Tier 2 event and ended up winning the title, beating Kaja Juvan in the final.
Osaka is one place ahead of Emma Raducanu, who lost in the second round of the Madrid Open.
Fellow youngster Alex Eala also lost in the second round and she climbed two spots to a new best of No 70.
WTA Rankings Top 20
1. Aryna Sabalenka – 11,118 points
2. Iga Swiatek Poland – 6,773
3. Coco Gauff United States – 6,603
4. Jessica Pegula United States – 6,243
5. Jasmine Paolini Italy – 4,875
6. Madison Keys United States – 4,824
7. Mirra Andreeva – 4,781
8. Zheng Qinwen China – 4,193
9. Emma Navarro United States – 3,797
10. Paula Badosa Spain – 3,761
11. Diana Shnaider – 3,023
12. Elena Rybakina Kazakhstan – 2,983
13. Karolina Muchova Czech Republic – 2,919
14. Elina Svitolina Ukraine – 2,810
15. Daria Kasatkina Australia – 2,686
16. Barbora Krejcikova Czech Republic – 2,664
17. Amanda Anisimova United States – 2,617
18. Jelena Ostapenko Latvia – 2,235
19. Donna Vekic Croatia – 2,226
20. Ekaterina Alexandrova – 2,158
