WTA Rankings Winners & Losers Stuttgart: Iga Swiatek asserts dominance, Emma Raducanu +82, Coco Gauff misses out again
Iga Swiatek once again outlasted her closest rivals in the WTA Rankings as she remains on course for a third consecutive Stuttgart title while Emma Raducanu was a big winner after her run to the quarter-final.
Defending Porsche Tennis Grand Prix champion Swiatek is now 10-0 in her first 10 matches at the WTA 500 event after she reached her third consecutive semi-final with a straight-set win over Raducanu.
She will face Elena Rybakina in the last four, but win or lose she will be assured of maintaining her big advantage ahead of Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff in the rankings after the pair suffered quarter-final exits.
Another title run will see Swiatek extend her lead over Sabalenka to an astonishing 3,381 points with Gauff another 200-odd points adrift in the third place.
WTA Top 10 Before Stuttgart
1. Iga Swiatek – 10,835
2. Aryna Sabalenka – 8,045
3. Coco Gauff – 7,205
4. Elena Rybakina – 5,848
5. Jessica Pegula – 4,870
6. Maria Sakkari – 4,195
7. Zheng Qinwen – 3,995
8. Marketa Vondrousova – 3,895
9. Ons Jabeur – 3,658
10. Jelena Ostapenko – 3,438
READ MORE: French Open 2024 likely women’s singles seeds: Iga Swiatek top, Sabalenka and Gauff battle for No 2
World No 2 Sabalenka had to outperform Swiatek at the German event in order to chip away at her lead at the top, but the Australian Open champion was beaten in the last eight by Marketa Vondrouosva.
With Sabalenka losing early on Friday, it opened the door for Gauff to edge closer to the Belarusian, but the American herself fell in the quarter-final as she lost in three sets against Marta Kostyuk, but she did manage to close the gap somewhat as it now stands at 590 points. It is another missed opportunity though as she would have been within striking distance with another win or two.
Vondrousova, meanwhile, is already assured of moving up one place to No 4 after her run to the semi-final and a title run will see her overtake Maria Sakkari in sixth place.
Projected WTA Top 10 After Stuttgart
1. Iga Swiatek – 10,560/10,690/10,865
2. Aryna Sabalenka – 7,848
3. Coco Gauff – 7,258
4. Elena Rybakina – 5,988/6,118/6,293
5. Jessica Pegula – 4,870
6. Maria Sakkari – 4,195
7. Marketa Vondrousova – 4,090/4,220/4,395
8. Zheng Qinwen – 4,000
9. Ons Jabeur – 3,533
10. Jelena Ostapenko – 3,438
The Other Big Winners
Emma Raducanu defeated Angelique Kerber and Linda Noskova in the opening two rounds and that has resulted in an 82-place surge back into the top 200 of the WTA Rankings. The 2021 US Open champion has 343 points, which puts her at No 221.
It remains unclear if Raducanu will receive a wildcard for the Madrid Open, but she doesn’t have any points to defend at the event so any win at the WTA 1000 could earn her another rankings boost.
The unseeded Marta Kostyuk will jump four places to a career-high No 23 after reaching the semi-final and if she ends up winning the title then she will make her top 20 debut.
Jasmine Paolini also enjoyed another good event as she reached the quarter-final and will climb one spot to a new career-high No 13 while Sachia Vickery will jump 16 places to No 128 after reaching the last 16.
The Big Losers
Paula Badosa’s struggles continue as she is close to exiting the top 100 with the Spaniard set to drop six places to No 99 after losing in the second round.
Former French Open winner Barbora Krejcikova finally made her return to action following her recent injury woes, but her first-round defeat will see her move down three places to No 27.
