Iga Swiatek was facing plenty of pressure heading into the Madrid Open, with the world No 2 embroiled in a rankings battle with both Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff.
Here, we look at how action has panned out so far, and what the five-time Grand Slam champion needs to defend her ranking.
Pre-tournament
Heading into the tournament, Swiatek had what appeared to be a comfortable cushion over both Pegula and Gauff in the WTA Rankings.
The Pole holds 7,383 points in the rankings as of April 21, 2025, the most recent update, with world No 3 Pegula on 6,208 points and No 4 Gauff on 6,073.
However, there can be no doubt that the pressure was on Swiatek heading into the first WTA 1000 event of the clay season.
As the reigning champion, Swiatek has 1,000 points to defend in Madrid, with Gauff only defending 120 points for reaching the fourth round, and Pegula defending nothing after her 2024 withdrawal.
Swiatek fell to 6,393 points in the pre-tournament live rankings, with Gauff on 5,963 and Pegula up to 6,218.
That significantly closed the gap between the three, with it possible that both Pegula and Gauff could overtake Swiatek had results gone their way, potentially pushing Swiatek down to world No 4.
However, the opening week of action has already seen some intriguing twists and turns in the Spanish capital.
Gauff primed to overtake Pegula
Pegula’s Madrid Open campaign came to an underwhelming end on Sunday, with the third seed slumping to a disappointing 6-3, 6-2 loss to Moyuka Uchijima.
That ended any hopes of her moving to a new career-high of world No 2 post-tournament, with her new live total of 6,273 points well off Swiatek’s live total of 6,503 points.
And, Pegula’s early exit could well see her fall to world No 4 in the WTA Rankings.
Current No 4 Gauff is safely through to her first Madrid Open quarter-final following a 6-4, 6-2 triumph over Belinda Bencic on Monday, moving her up to 6,168 points in the live rankings.
And, should she beat seventh seed Mirra Andreeva in her quarter-final, she will move back above Pegula to regain the US No 1 ranking.
Victory for the 21-year-old against Andreeva would move her to 6,343 points, 70 points above Pegula’s post-Madrid tally.
Battle for No 2
With Pegula out of the running, Gauff is the only woman who can now dislodge Swiatek from the world No 2 ranking post-tournament.
Swiatek currently has 6,503 points in the live rankings and will move up to 6,598 should she beat 13th seed Diana Shnaider in the fourth round.
To eclipse Swiatek in the WTA Rankings, Gauff has to reach at least the final.
The American will have 6,603 ranking points should she progress to the final, the first total of points that puts her ahead of both Swiatek’s projected fourth-round and quarter-final tally.
However, if Swiatek were to reach the semi-final, she would hold 6,773 ranking points – meaning that Gauff would have to lift the title to become world No 2.
If the American wins the title, she would hold 6,953 ranking points.
Second seed Swiatek and fourth seed Gauff are on the same side of the draw and are therefore projected to meet in the semi-final.
If Swiatek were to win, she would be guaranteed to stay at world No 2 regardless of how she fared in the championship match.
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Swiatek’s potential points tally
Champion: 7,383
Runner-up: 7,033
Semi-final: 6,773
Quarter-final: 6,598
Round 4: 6,503
Gauff’s potential points tally
Champion: 6,953
Runner-up: 6,603
Semi-final: 6,343
Quarter-final: 6,168
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The post Revealed: How Iga Swiatek can remain as WTA world No 2 at the Madrid Open appeared first on Tennis365.
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