WTA Rankings: Iga Swiatek still comfortable at No 1 as Elena Rybakina finally enters the top 10

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Elena Rybakina celebrations

Iga Swiatek may have made an early exit from the Australian Open, but she remains untouchable at the top of the WTA Rankings while her conqueror Elena Rybakina makes a belated top 10 debut.

World No 1 Swiatek was never in any danger of losing top spot as she started the season-opening Grand Slam with a handy 5,000-odd point lead over Ons Jabeur in second place.

But her exit in the fourth round at the hands of Rybakina coupled with Aryna Sabalenka’s Australian Open title victory and surge to No 2 means her lead is now “just” 4,385 points ahead.

Given that the Pole has a lot of points to defend over the next few months as she won six tournaments in a row from February until June last year, there could be some twists and turns at the top.

But for now she is still world No 1 with Sabalenka back at No 2 after winning her maiden Grand Slam with Jabeur, Jessica Pegula and Caroline Garcia completing the top five.

READ MORE: Aryna Sabalenka goes from underarm serving and 428 double faults in 2022 to mentality monster

The biggest story of the top 10 though is Rybakina’s entry at No 10 after finishing runner-up to Sabalenka in Sunday’s final.

The reigning Wimbledon champion found herself at a lowly 25 before the tournament started, but jumped 15 places following her run to the final where she earned 1,200 points.

“I don’t think I’m going to feel different just because of the ranking,” Rybakina said after the final.

“But for sure it’s going to be different at the smaller tournaments, I would say. I’m going to be seeded. Maybe in some tournaments I’m not going to play first round. So of course there is some benefits out of this.”

Of course, the Kazakh star would have comfortably been in the top 5 if Wimbledon awarded points as she would have picked up 2,000 for her win last July.

Former world No 1 and two-time Australian Open winner Victoria Azarenka is back in the top 20 after her run to the last four at Melbourne Park as he moves up to No 16 while fellow semi-finalist Magda Linette just misses the top 20 as the Pole is at No 22 after surging up 23 places.

WTA Rankings Top 20

1. Iga Swiatek Poland 10,485 points
2. Aryna Sabalenka – 6,100
3. Ons Jabeur Tunisia 5,210
4. Jessica Pegula United States 5,000
5. Caroline Garcia France 4,645
6. Coco Gauff United States 3,992
7. Maria Sakkari Greece 3,811
8. Daria Kasatkina – 3,380
9. Belinda Bencic Switzerland 2,905
10. Elena Rybakina Kazakhstan 2,815
11. Veronika Kudermetova – 2,740
12. Jelena Ostapenko Latvia 2,340
13. Petra Kvitova Czech Republc 2,281
14. Beatriz Haddad Maia Brazil 2,195
15. Simona Halep Romania 2,141
16. Victoria Azarenka – 2,138
17. Ekaterina Alexandrova – 2,030
18. Anett Kontaveit Estonia 1,909
19. Liudmila Samsonova – 1,905
20 Karolina Pliskova Czech Republic 1,880

READ MORE: Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina ‘threats’ to Iga Swiatek

Elena Rybakina Iga Swiatek

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