WTA rankings: Rybakina back at No 4, Andreeva nearing top 30
Elena Rybakina rejoins the big four at the top of the WTA rankings, while Mirra Andreeva continues her rise
Elena Rybakina Icon SMI / Panoramic
With three WTA tournaments playing out last week, the fresh WTA rankings this Monday reflect several changes off the back of results in Mumbai, Cluj-Napoca and Abu Dhabi.
Elena Rybakina returns to the No 4 spot in the rankings, while Mirra Andreeva continues her climb up the rankings. Jelena Ostapenko remains outside of the top 10 despite having won two titles already in 2024, while Belinda Bencic takes a big tumble.
Here’s a closer look at all the changes in the WTA rankings this week.
Rybakina returns to the big four
For a brief moment, Rybakina slipped out of the world’s top four, courtesy of her poor performance at the Australian Open in January.
However, in a year where Rybakina, Swiatek, Sabalenka and Gauff have set themselves apart from the rest of the WTA Tour, that wasn’t going to last long. The Kazakh stormed to her second title in 2024, winning the WTA 500 in Abu Dhabi with a convincing victory over Daria Kasatkina 6-1, 6-4. The result sees her bunnyhop Jessica Pegula for the No 4 spot in the WTA rankings.
Meanwhile, another player who has won two titles in 2024–Ostapenko–remains outside the top 10. Despite her red-hot form, the Latvian currently sits at No 11 in the rankings, with an opportunity to improve that this week in Doha.
Rybakina’s beaten opponent, Kasatkina, sees a small boost in her ranking as well, moving ahead of Beatriz Haddad Maia to No 13 on the ladder.
Andreeva continues her rise
The incredible rise of Russia’s Mirra Andreeva continues this year, with the 16-year-old moving up another two places to No 33 in the WTA rankings. Her improvement comes less from her own hands this week, and more from the demise of others who have dropped points.
Someone who was in control of their own fate, however, was Sorana Cirstea. The Romanian made the quarter-finals of the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open, moving her up two places to No 22 in the world, one spot away from her career high of No 21–achieved way back in 2013.
Linda Noskova also moves into the world’s top 30, reaching a career-high of No 28 this week. However, both Belinda Bencic and Anastasia Potapova have not had such luck, both falling in the rankings. Potapova drops seven places to No 34, while Bencic falls even further, from No 22 to No 36.
With the year’s first WTA 1000 event in Doha this week, there will be plenty more opportunities for movements in the rankings over the next seven days.
