Amanda Anisimova\u2019s rise has been one of the best stories on the WTA Tour in 2025, and the American\u2019s landmark season is not done yet.<\/p>\n
After a disappointing loss against Elena Rybakina to start her maiden WTA Finals campaign, gutsy victories over Madison Keys and Iga Swiatek were enough for Anisimova<\/a> to progress to the last four in Riyadh.<\/p>\n Now, the Wimbledon and US Open runner-up has the chance to break new ground over the next two days, and potentially overtake Coco Gauff<\/a> as the US No 1 \u2014 here is how she can do it.<\/p>\n Of the four Americans who qualified for the WTA Finals this year, Anisimova is one of two left standing ahead of the knockout stage, alongside Jessica Pegula.<\/p>\n The fourth seed qualified second from Group Serena Williams and will face Group Steffi Graf winner Aryna Sabalenka on Friday, while the other semi-final pits sixth seed Rybakina against fifth seed Pegula.<\/p>\n However, defending champion Gauff is now out of the tournament, with defeats to both Sabalenka and Pegula meaning she finished third in Group Steffi Graf.<\/p>\n With 200 ranking points available per round-robin win, Gauff leaves Riyadh with a year-end tally of 6,763 points and currently sits third in the WTA Live Rankings.<\/p>\n After two group stage wins, Anisimova sits on 6,287 points in the live rankings \u2014 though now has the chance to pick up significant points in the knockout rounds.<\/p>\n Elena Rybakina issues fitness update ahead of WTA Finals knockout stages<\/a><\/p>\n Iga Swiatek makes interesting confession as she enters uncharted waters with WTA Finals exit<\/a><\/p>\n It is unlikely that Anisimova will be thinking about her ranking mid-event, but she has been handed a gilt-edged chance in Riyadh.<\/p>\n With Gauff now out and only earning 200 ranking points, Anisimova can now rise to a new career-high ranking of world No 3 if she wins the WTA Finals title.<\/p>\n A total of 400 ranking points are on offer in Friday\u2019s semi-final encounters, meaning that the fourth seed will move to 6,687 points if she were to beat Sabalenka in the last four.<\/p>\n Though that would not be enough to overtake Gauff, she could then overtake her compatriot if she won the final, which is worth 500 ranking points for whoever triumphs.<\/p>\n Should Anisimova triumph in Riyadh over the next two days, she would hold 7,187 points when the WTA Rankings update next Monday \u2014 enough to move ahead of Gauff.<\/p>\n A major opportunity has been presented to her, though her position as the year-end world No 4 is also not yet secure.<\/p>\n After pulling out of last year\u2019s WTA Finals after two round-robin defeats, Riyadh has been much kinder to Pegula in 2025.<\/p>\n An impressive win over Jasmine Paolini on Thursday was enough for Pegula to seal progression with a 2-1 record in Group Steffi Graf, her only loss coming to world No 1 Sabalenka.<\/p>\n The runner-up at this tournament in 2023, she will be eyeing up her second final when she faces Rybakina in Friday\u2019s semi-final showdown.<\/p>\n And, she could in fact overtake Anisimova and move inside the world\u2019s top four by the end of the year.<\/p>\n Should Anisimova fall to Sabalenka on Friday, she would end the year on her current total of 6,287 points.<\/p>\n However, if Pegula were to go on to win the title, she would end the year on 6,483 points \u2014 enough to move above her compatriot.<\/p>\n Pegula herself could be overtaken by Rybakina if the Kazakh wins their semi-final and ultimately takes home the title, meaning there is plenty at stake in the WTA Rankings over the next two days.<\/p>\n Read Next<\/strong>: WTA Finals prize money & ranking points won by Coco Gauff and Jasmine Paolini revealed<\/a><\/p>\n The post WTA Finals: How Amanda Anisimova can overtake Coco Gauff as US No 1<\/a> appeared first on Tennis365<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Amanda Anisimova\u2019s rise has been one of the best stories on the WTA Tour in 2025, and the American\u2019s landmark season is not done yet. After a disappointing loss against Elena Rybakina to start her maiden WTA Finals campaign, gutsy victories over Madison Keys and Iga Swiatek were enough for Anisimova to progress to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1290\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}As it stands<\/h2>\n
Tennis News<\/h2>\n
How can Anisimova replace Gauff as US No 1?<\/h2>\n
Can Pegula overtake Anisimova?<\/h2>\n