Author: Shreyas Sharma
In a historic change at the top of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings, Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka dethroned Poland’s Iga Swiatek to become the new world number one. Sabalenka’s rise to the top marks the first time she has held the prestigious position.
Swiatek, who had spent an impressive 75 consecutive weeks as world number one, saw her reign come to an end. She had 9266 points in the ranking, but it was Sabalenka’s excellent performance, especially at the US Open, that catapulted her to the top spot with 8195 points. Swiatek, the reigning US Open champion, made it through to the last 16 of the tournament.
Third place now belongs to the newly crowned US Open champion, American sensation Coco Gauff. Gauff’s incredible victory in New York took her to her best ever ranking, reaching 6165 points. Close behind are Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina and American Jessica Pegula, in fourth and fifth place respectively.
Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova climbed three places to sixth, while 2022 finalist Ons Jabeur dropped to seventh. Karolina Muchova also achieved her personal best by coming eighth, and Maria Sakkari and Caroline Garcia complete the top 10.
Unfortunately, Brazilian player Beatriz Haddad Maia suffered a small drop in her ranking. She repeated her performance from the previous year, reaching the second round, but it wasn’t enough to maintain her position. Haddad Maia is now in 14th place with 2111 points. To secure a place at the WTA Finals in Cancun, Mexico, she will need a near-perfect performance in the remaining WTA 1000 and WTA 500 tournaments.
In the race ranking, which determines the top eight players for the WTA Finals, Haddad Maia also fell to 20th place, trailing eighth-placed Ons Jabeur by a substantial margin.
In the Brazilian ranking, Laura Pigossi has climbed one position and is in 130th place. Meanwhile, Luisa Stefani, who recently caused a sensation with her semi-final appearance at the US Open alongside Jennifer Brady, has returned to the top 10 after a long journey back from injury.
Stefani expressed her satisfaction at reaching this milestone, citing her successful performances at Grand Slam events and her determination to aim higher in the future. She has a busy schedule ahead of her, with tournaments in Mexico, Japan and China on her radar.