WTA Rankings: Aryna Sabalenka gets year-end No 1 green light, Belinda Bencic on cusp of top 10, Lulu Sun +28
The final punishments and points deductions have taken place in the 2025 WTA Rankings and the status quo has remained with Aryna Sabalenka keeping her position at the top, meaning she has officially been crowned as the year-end No 1.
Sabalenka has been top of the rankings since October 20, 2024 and, although she had unofficially secured the No 1 spot until the start of the 2026 season, there were still some points penalties that had to be confirmed by the WTA.
The reigning US Open champion, along with her closest challenger Iga Swiatek had failed to play the minimum number of WTA 500 events this season and they have for the second week in a row been hit with points penalties.
In the latest rankings update, Sabalenka lost the 120 points she earned at the Dubai Tennis Championships while Swiatek dropped 108 from the Stuttgart event.
On top of those zero pointers, players also dropped points from the 2024 WTA Finals and both the top two lost 400 points from 12 months ago.
In total, Sabalenka dropped 520 points and Swiatek 508, but the former keeps her massive lead at the top of the WTA Rankings as she is 1,675 points ahead of the six-time Grand Slam winner.
The 2025 WTA Finals is the only tournament left on the calendar and an undefeated champion can win a maximum of 1,500 points, which means Swiatek can no longer mathematically pass Sabalenka.
Thus, the Belarusian has secured the year-end No 1 ranking for a second consecutive year and she will become only the seventh woman to spend a full calendar year at No 1 as she has been top since October 20, 2024.
Swiatek has wrapped up second place with Gauff 1,632 points behind her while the American is favourite to finish at No 3 as Amanda Anisimova will need to reach the latter stages of the season-ending tournament to overtake her.
Elena Rybakina was also a big winner in the past week as she secured her place to WTA Finals by reaching the semi-final of the Pan Pacific Open although she withdrew from the event after confirming her spot.
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Belinda Bencic ended up winning the Tokyo WTA 500 event as she beat Linda Noskova in straight sets in the final, but both were rewarded for their runs as the Swiss – who started the year outside the top 400 – climbed two spots to No 11.
Noskova, meanwhile, has reached a new career-high No 13 after moving up four places with her runners-up finish.
There were minimal changes in the rest of the top 20, but one player has dropped down the list as Zheng Qinwen is -13 and now sits at No 24.
The Chinese star failed to defend her points in Tokyo last week and dropped another 800 points as she finished runner-up at the 2024 WTA Finals.
Ann Li was the other title winner last week as she lifted the Guangzhou Open trophy after beating Lulu Sun in the final. The American is up 11 places to a new high of No 33 while Sun surged 28 places to No 88.
Two-time Grand Slam winner Barbora Krejcikova was one of the biggest fallers as she dropped 28 places to No 64.
Besides Noskova and Li, the following players have achieved new career highs in the latest WTA Rankings: Victoria Mboko (21), Jaqueline Cristian (39), Alex Eala (51), Elsa Jacquemot (56), Francesca Jones (71), Sara Bejlek (84), Darja Semenistaja (87) and Veronika Erjavec (98).
WTA Rankings Top 20
1. Aryna Sabalenka – 9,870 points
2. Iga Swiatek Poland – 8,195
3. Coco Gauff United States – 6,563
4. Amanda Anisimova United States – 5,887
5. Jessica Pegula United States – 5,183
6. Elena Rybakina Kazakhstan – 4,350 (+1)
7. Madison Keys United States – 4,335 (+1)
8. Jasmine Paolini Italy – 4,325 (-2)
9. Mirra Andreeva – 4,325
10. Ekaterina Alexandrova – 3,375
11. Belinda Bencic Switzerland – 3,146 (+2)
12. Clara Tauson Denmark – 2,770
13. Linda Noskova Czech Republic – 2,641 (+4)
14. Elina Svitolina Ukraine – 2,595
15. Emma Navarro United States – 2,515
16. Naomi Osaka Japan – 2,487
17. Luidmila Sansonova – 2,209 (+1)
18. Diana Shnaider – 2,056 (+1)
19. Karolina Muchova Czech Republic – 1,996 (+2)
20. Elise Mertens Belgium – 1,969
