World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka capped off a dominant March by winning the Sunshine Double, and with it, she cemented her place at the top of the rankings while there was also good news for Coco Gauff and Hailey Baptiste after the Miami Open.
Sabalenka has become only the fifth woman to win the back-to-back Indian Wells Open and Miami Open with her latest title run coming on the back of a three-set win over Gauff in the final in Florida.
The four-time Grand Slam winner was the defending champion so she didn’t add any points to her tally as the WTA uses a rolling 52-week cumulative system, meaning players have to defend points from the corresponding period a year ago.
The Belarusian earned 1,000 points last year and dropped that at the start of the tournament, but then got the 1,000 points back by winning the title again.
She beat her closest challenger, Elena Rybakina with a dominant two-set win in the semi-finals, and that means she ends the North American hard-court swing with a 2,917-point lead over the Kazakh player.
Sabalenka started her 84th week at No 1 on Monday, which keeps her at No 11 on the all-time list, but she will likely pass Lindsay Davenport (98) in the coming months to move into the top 10.
WTA News
Miami Open: Former world No 4 reveals ‘what is exciting for Coco Gauff’ after impressive run
Miami Open: Aryna Sabalenka ‘stamped her signature on the season’ as tennis icon issues verdict
With 76 of those 84 weeks coming consecutively, she has moved ahead of Iga Swiatek for the longest consecutive streak as she is now tied with Chris Evert at No 11 on 76.
Evert, of course, also has a 113-week consecutive streak, while Sabalenka will likely move up a few more spots with her current run.
Although Gauff finished runner-up, she moved up one place with her run to the final while Iga Swiatek has dropped to No 4 after her shock second-round exit.
Swiatek will start the clay-court swing with a 1,000-point advantage over Jessica Pegula while the only other change in the top 10 sees Elina Svitolina and Jasmine Paolini swap places with the former now at No 7.
Dubai champion Karolina Muchova is on the cusp of a return to the top-10 as she earned her a three-place jump to No 11 after reaching the semi-final while rising star Iva Jovic is up one place to a new high of No 16.
Hailey Baptiste was the surprise package in Miami as she was the only unseeded player in the quarter-finals and she earned a 12-place surge to a new high of No 33.
Talia Gibson is also +12 to a new high of No 56 after reaching the round of 16 while Yulia Starodubtseva is +19 and up to No 89 after her run to the round of 32.
In terms of star names who dropped places, Emma Raducanu didn’t feature in Miami due to illness and she is down five places to No 28 while Alex Eala has slipped out of the top 40 as she is -16 to No 45 after losing in the round of 16.
Magda Linette may have stunned fellow Pole Swiatek, but she has dropped seven places to No 57.
American pair Ashlyn Krueger and Danielle Collins both reached the fourth round a year ago, but the former lost in the first round in the 2026 edition and -24 to No 103 while Collins didn’t feature and is -21 to No 120.
WTA Top 10 Live Rankings
1. Aryna Sabalenka – 11,025
2. Elena Rybakina Kazakhstan – 8,108
3. Coco Gauff United States – 7,278 (+1)
4. Iga Swiatek Poland – 7,263 (-1)
5. Jessica Pegula United States – 6,243
6. Amanda Anisimova United States – 6,180
7. Elina Svitolina Ukraine – 3,965 (+1)
8. Jasmine Paolini Italy – 3,907 (-1)
9. Victoria Mboko Canada – 3,531
10. Mirra Andreeva – 3,121
11. Karolina Muchova Czechia – 2,993 (+3)
12. Belinda Bencic Switzerland – 2,983
13. Ekaterina Alexandrova – 2,973 (-2)
14. Linda Noskova Czechia – 2,801 (-1)
15. Naomi Osaka Japan – 2,324
16. Iva Jovic United States – 2,105 (+1)
17. Clara Tauson Denmark – 2,040 (-1)
18. Madison Keys United States – 2,026
19. Diana Shnaider – 1,953
20. Elise Mertens Belgium – 1,936 (-1)
The post WTA Rankings: Sabalenka passes Swiatek milestone, Gauff No 3, Baptiste +12, Raducanu -5, Eala -16 appeared first on Tennis365.
Leave a Reply