WTA Rankings: Former Grand Slam champion returns to top 10, Simona Halep set to drop out of top 50
Former world No 2 Barbora Krejcikova has returned to the WTA Rankings top 10 after she reached the final of the Birmingham Classic on Sunday.
Krejcikova came up short in the final against Jelena Ostapenko but sealed her return to the top 10 when she won her fourth successive match to book her place in the championship match.
Ostapenko remains the world No 17 despite claiming the second grass-court title of her career in Birmingham.
Meanwhile, Aryna Sabalenka missed out on a golden opportunity to close the gap between herself and world No 1 Iga Swiatek.
Sabalenka could have slashed Swiatek’s lead at the top of the standings with a run to the title but only managed to reach the second round in Berlin.
Swiatek hasn’t played since she retained her French Open crown but will play Bad Homburg this week as her only Wimbledon warm-up.
Only Swiatek and Sabalenka are in the frame to hold the top ranking after with the No 2 needing to reach the Championship match to have any chance of becoming No 1.
If Swiatek reaches the final herself, she will be out of reach of any player and will retain the world No 1 ranking she has held since 4 April 2023.
Swiatek has been world No 1 for 65 weeks in her first reign, the longest maiden stint as rankings queen since Martina Hingis held the position for 80 weeks between March 1997 and October 1998.
The record for the longest first reign is still held by Steffi Graf whose first stint is also the overall joint-longest stretch as world No 1 as she spent 186 weeks atop the rankings.
Petra Kvitova’s 31st career WTA title at the Berlin Open hasn’t impacted her position on the rankings as she remains in ninth.
The only change to the top ten sees Jessica Pegula retake the No 4 spot from Caroline Garcia. Both Garcia and Pegula are in action at Eastbourne this week and they may well exchange the position again.
Donna Vekic moves up three places to be the new world No 20 after her run to the Berlin Open final. Vekic is just one place below her career-high ranking attained back in November 2019.
With a 13-place jump up into the world No 40 slot, Markéta Vondroušová is the biggest positive mover in the top 50 this week.
As her suspension continues, former world No 1 Simona Halep faces the prospect of dropping out of the top 50 she is now right ‘on the bubble’ as the world No 50 after a 10-position slide this week.
WTA Rankings Top 20
1. Iga Swiatek Poland 8,940 points
2. Aryna Sabalenka – 8,066
3. Elena Rybakina Kazakhstan 5,090
4. Jessica Pegula United States 4,905
5. Caroline Garcia France 4,845
6. Ons Jabeur Tunisia 3,492
7. Coco Gauff United States 3,305
8. Maria Sakkari Greece 3,301
9. Petra Kvitova Czech Republic 3,101
10. Barbora Krejcikova Czech Republic 2,830
11. Daria Kasatkina – 2,685
12. Veronika Kudermetova – 2,600
13. Beatriz Haddad Maia Brazil 2,560
14. Belinda Bencic Switzerland 2,380
15. Liudmila Samsonova – 2,301
16. Karolina Muchova Czech Republic 2,294
17. Jelena Ostapenko Latvia 2,105
18. Karolina Pliskova Czech Republic 2,205
19. Victoria Azarenka – 1,996
20. Donna Vekic Croatia 1,975
READ MORE: Andy Murray reflects on the ‘huge relief’ of his maiden Wimbledon win 10 years on
