With the new ranking update of the WTA tour, Aryna Sabalenka gets her reward for her great run of form lately, by reclaiming the top spot of the PIF WTA World singles rankings.
The 26-year-old has had two months of fantastic results on the tour, winning the US Open (her third Slam), claiming two WTA 1000 level titles (Cincinnati Open and Wuhan Open) and reached the semi’s of the China Open.
This is Sabalenka’s second time, or ninth career week as No. 1, after she first got there back in September last year. This puts Iga Swiatek down to no 2 following 50 weeks at the top spot. In total she had 125 weeks as no 1.
Six WTA 500 events required
This follows the new structure of the WTA rankings, where players get points deducted when not competing in enough WTA 500 events. All players are required to play at six of the WTA 500 tournaments and with the absence of both of them last week, neither of the two top players will reach this level.
Sabalanka played four of the WTA500 events (Brisbane, Stuttgart, Berlin and Washington) while Swiatek only featured in two so far in 2024 (United Cup and Stuttgart).
As there is only one WTA500 event left, Tokyo coming up this week, we start to see changes in the overall rankings. Swiatek now goes from 9,785 to 9,665 points, while Sabalenka drops to 9,706 (from 9,716).
Further down in the list we can also see major changes. One player to make a big step is Suzan Lamens (Holland) making her top 100 debut jumping from 125 to the 88th spot after her first WTA title in Osaka recently.
