Aryna Sabalenka has now spent as many weeks at No. 1 as Maria Sharapova and Tracy Austin while there were big players further down the WTA rankings.
The biggest names in women’s tennis were not in action the previous week Australian Open and that means the top five is unchanged with Sabalenka leading Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Jasmine Paolini and Zheng Qinwen.
Sabalenka sits on 9,656 points – 1,536 ahead of Swiatek – and on Monday she began her 12 consecutive weeks at the top of the rankings to take her overall standing to 21.
It saw her tied with Sharapova and Austin in joint 18th place for most weeks at No.1 and she will move ahead of the duo next week as there is no ranking update amid a Grand Slam with Naomi Osaka in 25 weeks her next target.
But she has a fight to remain at the top after the season opener, as both Swiatek and Gauff could overtake her with the former’s chances much better than Gauff’s.
Paolini could also overtake Gauff if the American falls early at Melbourne Park while Zheng risks slipping down the rankings as she has two points to defend from 2024.
There were a couple of changes in the top 10 with Jessica Pegula moving up one place to No.6 after her run to the final at the Adelaide International while Barbora Krejikova also moves up a place to No.9 with Daria Kasatkina now at No.10 after an early exit at the WTA 500 – the event.
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Keys was the big winner in the top 20 as she jumped six places to No.14 after winning the Adelaide title – the ninth title of her career – while Jelena Ostapenko slipped out of the top 20.
McCartney Kessler was the second tournament winner before the Australian Open when she won her second WTA Tour title after beating Elise Mertens in the Hobart International final. The American jumped 20 places to a career-high 47th.
There were some big winners outside the top 100 as 18-year-old Maya Joint is up 13 places to No.105 after reaching the semi-finals in Hobart.
Joint’s fellow Australian Emerson Jones climbed 78 places to a career-high No.293 after claiming her first ever WTA match win in Hobart. The 16-year-old has received a wildcard entry to the Australian Open.
The teenager is one place ahead of Belinda Bencic – who returned from maternity leave at the end of 2024 – as she is up 127 places after qualifying and winning her debut at the same event.
WTA ranking top 20
1. Aryna Sabalenka – 9,656 points
2. Iga Swiatek Poland – 8,120
3. Coco Gauff USA – 6,888
4. Jasmine Paolini Italy – 5,399
5. Zheng Qinwen China – 5,325
6. Jessica Pegula USA – 4,801
7. Elena Rybakina Kazakhstan – 4,723
8. Emma Navarro USA – 3,409
9. Barbora Krejcikova Czech Republic – 3,214
10. Daria Kasatkina – 3,151
11. Danielle Collins USA – 3,147
12. Paula Badosa Spain – 2,958
13. Diana Schneider – 2,895
14. Madison Keys USA – 2,680
15. Mirra Andreeva – 2,665
16. Anna Kalinskaya – 2,637
17. Beatriz Hadid Maia Brazil – 2,554
18. Marta Kostyuk Ukraine – 2,364
19. Donna Vekic Croatia – 2,228
20. Karolina Muchova Czech Republic – 2,079
