WTA rankings: Swiatek maintains firm grip on world No 1 spot, Sabalenka leads Race to WTA Finals

The Pole has a lead of more than 2,000 points over her closest rival, Aryna Sabalenka, who leads the Race to the WTA Finals

Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek with their trophies at the 2023 Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart

Haresh Ramchandani

April 24, 2023

Poland’s Iga Swiatek maintained her firm grip over the world No 1 ranking after winning the WTA Porsche Grand Prix for the second year in a row on Sunday.

The 21-year-old, who was named as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine, has 8,975 points in her kitty, a lead of more than 2,000 points over second-placed Aryna Sabalenka, the woman whom she defeated in the Stuttgart final. Swiatek has been on top of the WTA rankings since April 4, 2022 when she first ascended to the No 1 spot.

Sabalenka, who won the Australian Open in January, holds the top spot in the Race to the WTA Finals (which counts only points for this calendar year) with 3,830 points with Elena Rybakina at No 2 with 3,266 points and Swiatek at No 3 on that list with 2,280 points.

There is no change in this week’s top 10 world rankings with Sabalenka, who has 6,891 points, being followed by Jessica Pegula (5,735 points) at No 3, Ons Jabeur (5,116 points) at No 4, Caroline Garcia (5,030 points) at No 5, Coco Gauff (4,400 points) at No 6, Elena Rybakina (4,305 points) at No 7, Daria Kasatkina (3,505 points) at No 8, Maria Sakkari (3,191 points) at No 9 and Petra Kvitova (3,162 points) at No 10.

Pliskova back in the top 15; Kovinic jumps after ITF title in Portugal

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Outside the top 10, former world No 1 Karolina Pliskova moves up two spots to No 15 after reaching the quarter-finals in Stuttgart. The Czech was ranked No 31 at the start of the season but has halved her ranking thanks to an 18-8 record, which includes quarter-final runs at the Australian Open and Dubai.

Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova also makes a move up in the top 20, up one spot to No 17 while Liudmila Samsonova drops three positions to No 18.

Montenegro’s Danka Kovinic makes a big move – climbing 15 spots to No 57 after winning the ITF $100K title in Portugal on Sunday. Meanwhile, Spain’s Rebeka Masarova, the woman Kovinic beat in the final, jumps 19 spots to a new career-high of No 74.