WTA rankings report – Swiatek, the new No 1, top-10 transformation post-Barty

WTA Rankings | WTA Race

A new era of WTA tennis is upon is this spring, marked by the retirement of Ash Barty, the Aussie’s sudden retirement ending a stint of 114 consecutive weeks as the tour’s alpha dog. Three-time Slam champion Barty spent a total of 121 weeks at No 1, good for seventh on the all-time list, but she has elected to exit the rankings table this week, paving the way for Poland’s Iga Swiatek to become the WTA’s 28th No 1 in history.

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Swiatek – a perfect ascent

There is no better – or more authoritative – way to become No 1 than what we saw from the 2020 Roland-Garros champion over the last two months. Iga Swiatek, still nearly two months shy of her 21st birthday, surged to the Miami Open title on Saturday, raising the trophy after a commanding 6-4, 6-0 victory over Naomi Osaka. She didn’t drop a set and gave away just 26 games in six matches. It was a truly dominant statement from a deserving No 1, who has now won 17 matches on the trot, winning titles at Doha, Indian Wells and Miami to bring her 2022 record to a dazzling 26-3.

Swiatek becomes the fourth woman – and youngest ever – to win the prestigious Sunshine Double – hers was a statement run if there ever was one.

Top-10 shakeups – three new career-highs

The top-10 will look a lot different without Barty in the mix. In addition to Swiatek’s rise to No 1, we also see Paula Badosa notch a career-high ranking at No 3, while American Danielle Collins achieves a career-best mark at No 8.

Barbora Krecjikova, who was inactive last week, jumps two spots to her previous career-high at No 2.

Just over 500 points separate Krejcikova at No 2 and Annet Kontaveit at No 6, so there could be cosiderable upheaval on the clay.

Jessica Pegula rises to No 13, Gauff to 15

A pair of Americans ticked off new highs inside the top-20 on Monday, as Jessica Pegula was rewarded for her semi-final performance at Miami with a personal best ranking of 13 – a jump of eight spots. Coco Gauff, the youngest player inside the WTA’s top-20, rises one spot to 15, another career-high for the Florida native.

Biggest riser – Naomi Osaka

It was a productive week in every sense of the word for former world No 1 Naomi Osaka. The Japanese star reached her first final since winning the 2021 Australian Open, and though she fell to Iga Swiatek on Saturday, Osaka is rewarded with the biggest rankings jump inside the WTA’s top-100.

Osaka rises 42 spots, from 77 to 35, and is closing in on being a seed at Roland-Garros. The four-time major champion has her sights set higher however – she says she’d like to crack the top-10 by the end of the season, and No 1 sometime next year.

“I think by like next year or by the end of this year I would love to be top 10,” she said on Saturday after the Miami final. “By next year I would love to be the No. 1.”

Other notable risers

Osaka’s rise was by far the biggest, but there were some other big weeks inside the top-100:

• Anhelina Kalinina – +9 to career-high 42
• Veronika Kudermetova – + 1 to career-high 22
• Camila Osorio – + 1 to career-high 33
• Elena-Gabriela Ruse – +2 to career-high 55
• Mayar Sherif – + 12 to 61, matching career-high
• Anna Bondar – + 3 to career-high 73
• Anna Kalinskaya – +8 to career-high 76
• Kaja Juvan – +2 to career-high 78
• Lucia Bronzetti – +17 to career-high 85
• Magdalena Frech – +2 to career-high 87
• Harmony Tan – +1 to career-high 90
• Dalma Galfi – +10 to career-high 97
• Vera Zvonareva – +14 to 103