WTA Rankings Winners and Losers from Indian Wells: Angie Kerber +265, Naomi Osaka +58, Emma Raducanu -38

Shahida Jacobs 17 Mar 2024 12:23 PM

Angelique Kerber is still alive in her final event.

The final of the Indian Wells Open has been set with Iga Swiatek taking on Maria Sakkari for the title and the top 10 of the WTA Rankings will remain largely unchanged after the tournament with the biggest changes further down the list.

World No 1 Swiatek remains on course to win a second title in California on Sunday and she will leave the event as a big winner after her closest rival Aryna Sabalenka faltered early on at the WTA 1000 event.

WTA Rankings Top 10 before Indian Wells

1. Iga Swiatek Poland 10,105 points
2. Aryna Sabalenka 8,725
3. Coco Gauff United States 6,975
4. Elena Rybakina Kazakhstan 6,848
5. Jessica Pegula United States 5,145
6. Ons Jabeur Tunisia 4,173
7. Marketa Vondrousova Czech Republic 4,070
8. Qinwen Zheng China 4,040
9. Maria Sakkari Greece 3,565
10. Jelena Ostapenko Latva 3,548

Having finished runner-up to Elena Rybakina last year, Sabalenka had a lot of points to defend but her fourth-round exit at the hands of Emma Navarro has seen her drop further behind Swiatek.

Irrespective of the outcome of the final against Sakkari, Swiatek will have a 2,000-plus point advantage when the rankings are updated on Monday. If the Pole wins the title, her lead over Sabalenka will be 2,520 and if she loses then it will be 2,170.

OFFICIAL WTA RANKINGS

World No 3 Gauff has managed to reduce the deficit to Sabalenka, but her semi-final loss against Sakkari means the gap is still quite big at 1,045.

Elena Ryabakina was the biggest loser in the top 10 as she was unable to defend her title due to illness, it means she dropped 1,000 points and now finds herself 1,302 points adrift of Gauff.

There is one confirmed change in the top 10 with Australian Open runner-up Qinwen Zheng and Marketa Vondrousova swapping places after their early defeats.

Sakkari, meanwhile, can climb as high as No 6 if she defeats Swiatek.

Projected WTA Rankings Top 10 After Indian Wells

1. Iga Swiatek Poland 10,365/10,715 points
2. Aryna Sabalenka 8,195
3. Coco Gauff United States 7,150
4. Elena Rybakina Kazakhstan 5,848
5. Jessica Pegula United States 5,035
6. Ons Jabeur Tunisia 4,118
7. Qinwen Zheng China 4,050
8. Marketa Vondrousova Czech Republic 4,015
9. Maria Sakkari Greece 3,825/4,175
10. Jelena Ostapenko Latvia 3,493

THE BIG WINNERS

As per usual, most of the intriguing rankings stories are outside the top 10 with Emma Navarro set for a new career-high following her run to the quarter-final at Indian Wells. She will move up three places, but that is enough to crack the top 20 for the first time.

Semi-finalist Marta Kostyuk will also hit a new high of No 26 as she is set to rise six places after reaching the semi-finals.

Quarter-finalist Yue Yuan will jump 12 places to No 37 while 19-year-old Diana Shnaider will also move up 12 spots to No 62 after reaching the second round.

But the biggest winners were Angelique Kerber, Caroline Wozniacki and Naomi Osaka with the former set to surge up 265 places to No 342 after she reached the fourth round. Kerber was playing in only her third tournament after returning to action following the birth of her daughter last year.

Wozniacki, meanwhile, is back in the top 200 as she will jump 75 places after reaching the quarter-final. Another decent run at the Miami Open could see the former world No 1 return to the 100.

Four-time Grand Slam winner Osaka reached the third round in Indian Wells and she is rewarded with a 58-place jump to No 229.

THE BIG LOSERS

Two-time Grand Slam winner Petra Kvitova was unable to play in Indian Wells as she is pregnant and will drop out of the top 20 with an even bigger slump coming after the Miami Open as she is teh defending champion in Florida.

Former world No 2 Paula Badosa’s slide also continues after she missed Indian Wells due to injury and she will drop seven spots to NO 80. Bianca Andreescu will slide 13 places to No 158 as she didn’t play in California.

Former world No 10 Emma Raducanu’s hopes of climbing up the rankings suffered a blow despite her run to the third round as she is projected to drop 38 places, which will put her at No 288. The 2021 US Open champion reached the fourth round last year, thus she dropped 55 points.