WTA Madrid Open: Points being dropped by Sabalenka, Gauff, Swiatek, Raducanu, Eala

The Madrid Open marks the first of two back-to-back WTA 1000 events on European soil and all the top players will feature at the 2026 edition.

World No 1 and defending champion Aryna Sabalenka will be the top seed and she will be joined in the draw by Elena Rybakina, Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek, Jessica Pegula, Amanda Anisimova, Elina Svitolina, Jasmine Paolini, Mirra Andreeva and Victoria Mboko.

Sabalenka is on a high as she became the fifth woman to complete the Sunshine Double on the North American hard courts after winning the Indian Wells Open and Miami Open in March.

But the action has switched from hard courts to clay and most of the four-time Grand Slam winner’s rivals will head to Madrid with some matches on the red dirt under their belts while the Belarusian will be slightly undercooked.

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The world No 1 has not featured on the WTA Tour since she beat Gauff in the Miami Open as she opted to skip this week’s Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart.

Points The Big Names Will Drop In Madrid

The WTA uses a rolling 52-week cumulative system for the rankings and players have to defend points from corresponding periods/tournaments 12 months ago.

Those points drop at the start of a tournament and players then earn points for their round-by-round progression at that event.

Aryna Sabalenka – 1,000

The top seed will be under a bit of pressure in Madrid as she is the defending champion so she will drop 1,000 points at the start of the WTA 1000 event.

However, she is not in danger of losing the No 1 ranking after the tournament as she has a 2,787-point lead over Rybakina in the Live Rankings, although that could be reduced to 2,395 if the reigning Australian Open champion wins the Stuttgart Open.

Despite then dropping 1,000 points in Madrid, Sabalenka and will leave the Spanish capital at No 1 even if she loses early.

Elena Rybakina – 0

The Kazakh star lost in the third round last year, but according to ranking rules, she is keeping her sixth-best combined WTA 1000 result (65 points) as it is higher than the Madrid result, which does not need to be counted in her ranking points.

Coco Gauff – 650

The American recently overtook Swiatek at No 3 in the rankings, but she could start the Madrid Open behind the Pole in the rankings as they are separated by only a handful of points.

Gauff finished runner-up to Sabalenka last year so she will lose 650 points at the start of the event.

Iga Swiatek/Elina Svitolina – 390

World No 4 Swiatek and No 7 Svitolina lost against Gauff and Sabalenka, respectively, in the semi-finals at the 2025 tournament.

The Pole is set to move ahead of Gauff in the Live Rankings once their points come off, and Svitolina will likely remain in seventh.

Marta Kostyuk/Moyuka Uchijima/Mirra Andreeva/Madison Keys – 215

Quarter-finalists earn 215 points so Kostyuk, Uchijima, Andreeva and Keys will drop that tally.

Andreeva is currently at No 9 in the rankings, but she could move up depending on her results in Stuttgart while Keys could drop out of the top 20 and Kostyuk out of the top 30.

Uchijima is currently at No 86 and she is set to slip out of the top 100.

Jessica Pegula – 65

The American was upset by Uchijima in the third round last year so she will defend only 65 points.

Victoria Mboko – 32

The Canadian star, who sits at No 10 in the WTA Rankings, was still competing on the lower levels 12 months ago and she will defend points from her 18th-best result.

Others

Iva Jovic 100

World No 16 Jovic didn’t play in Madrid last year so the 18-year-old is defending 100 points from an ITF event 12 months ago.

Emma Raducanu/Alex Eala – 35

British No 1 Raducanu, who is yet to confirm if she will play in Madrid following her recent health struggles, lost to Kostyuk in the second round in 2025.

World No 45 Eala earned a wildcard last year and she made the most of it as she beat Viktoriya Tomova in her opener before losing against second seed Swiatek.

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