WTA World No 1 gallery: Ashleigh Barty, Naomi Osaka and ten more recent top players

James Richardson
WTA World No 1
File photo dated January 25, 2022 of Ashleigh Barty during her quarter final at the 2022 Australian Open at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. Ash Barty, the world No 1, has stunned the tennis world by announcing her retirement from the sport at the age of 25. An emotional Barty delivered the bombshell news in an interview with Casey Dellacqua via her social media channels on Wednesday.

Ashleigh Barty has bowed out on top, retiring from tennis as the WTA World No 1 and ensuring that a new top player will be crowned at the next update after the Miami Open.

Here we look at the last 12 women to hold the top spot.

Ashleigh Barty
Australia’s Ashleigh Barty ascended to the top spot for the second time in her career on 9 September 2019 directly after her run to the US Open quarterfinals, knocking Japan’s Naomi Osaka off the top spot.

Naomi Osaka had knocked Barty off of the top spot just about a month earlier following her quarterfinal run at the Rogers Cup in Toronto, taking over on 12 August 2019 but failing to keep the spot for a month.

Naomi Osaka
Naomi Osaka, then the reigning US and Australian Open champion took the top spot back from Australia’s Ashleigh Barty on 12 August following the WTA Tour’s stop in Toronto.

Barty’s first reign had followed Osaka’s 21-week maiden stint at the top and the last time either one of them wasn’t the No 1 women’s player was in January 2019.

WTA World No 1
Simona Halep reigned as World No 1 for almost a year between February 2018 and January 2019, enjoying 48 weeks at the top and taking her total weeks at the summit up to 64.

Halep’s two stints at the top came either side of a short spell as rankings queen for Caroline Wozniacki, whose third run as WTA World No 1 lasted four weeks.

WTA World No 1
Caroline Wozniacki is a three-time WTA World No 1, enjoying her third spell at the top between 29 January and 25 February taking the spot from Simona Halep and also surrendering it back to the Romanian.

Halep’s first tenure as WTA World No 1 came on the heels of a four week run at the top for Garbiñe Muguruza.

WTA World No 1
Garbiñe Muguruza became the first Spanish woman to become WTA World No 1 since Arantxa Sánchez Vicario relinquished the crown in June 1995 on the heels of the 2017 US Open.

Karolína Plíšková is another one-timer on this list, having spent eight weeks at No 1 despite never winning a Grand Slam.

WTA World No 1
Karolína Plíšková of the Czech Republic was WTA World No 1 for eight weeks between 17 July and 10 September 2017 taking the top spot from Simona Halep.

Angelique Kerber spent the better part of a year between 2016 and 2017 trading the top spot with Serena Williams, toppling the American to begin each of her three reigns as WTA World No 1.

WTA World No 1
Angelique Kerber was WTA World No 1 three times between 2016 and 2017 holding the top spot for 34 weeks in total, each time knocking Serena Williams off the summit.

Serena Williams last held the top spot in May 2017 and has been WTA World No 1 for a staggering 319 weeks across eight spells at the head of the women’s game.

Serena Williams
Serena Williams has spent more than six years of her life as the WTA World No 1 and has ascended to the top spot on eight separate occasions.

Williams enjoyed her longest run as WTA World No 1 between 2013 and 2016, holding rankings supremacy for a joint-record 186 weeks during her sixth run at the top.

WTA World No 1
Victoria Azarenka has been the top woman in tennis for 51 weeks across two reigns as the WTA World No 1. Between 30 January 2012 and 17 February 2013, Azarenka was World No 1 for all but four weeks.

During those four weeks, Maria Sharapova enjoyed her fifth spell as WTA World No 1.

WTA World No 1
Maria Sharapova ascended to the top of the pile for the fifth time in her career off the back of her fourth Grand Slam title at the 2012 French Open.

Kim Clijsters started the 2011 season strongly but injuries would prevent her from regaining her best form before her first retirement.

WTA World No 1
Kim Clijsters, of Belgium, spent just one week as the WTA World No 1 during her fourth run as the top women in tennis in early 2011.

Dinara Safina’s second run as WTA World No 1 also lasted just one week before she surrendered the spot back to Serena Williams.

Dinara Safina
Dinara Safina’s two reigns as WTA World No 1 were islands in a sea of Serena Williams dominance. She spent a total of 26 weeks at No 1 but her second spell lasted just a week.

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