WTA Rankings: Swiatek extends lead at No 1; Paolini and Keys rise up

The Pole begins her 102nd week as the world No 1 with a lead of more than 2,700 points over her closest rival, Aryna Sabalenka

Iga Swiatek, Madrid Open 2024 Image Credit: Antoine Couvercelle / Panoramic

Haresh Ramchandani

May 6, 2024

Poland’s Iga Swiatek continues her dominance over the WTA rankings after winning the Madrid Open title on Saturday. The Pole begins her 102nd week as the world No. 1 with a lead of over 2,712 points over second-ranked Aryna Sabalenka, whom she beat in the Madrid final.

This is the 22-year-old’s biggest lead in the rankings over the second ranked player in 14 months (since Indian Wells 2023). There’s no change in the top 5 this week with Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina, and Jessica Pegula holding on to the No 3, No 4 and No 5 positions respectively.

Greece’s Maria Sakkari, a fourth-round loser in Madrid, drops two spots to No 8 after failing to defend her semi-final points from last year. That sends Czech Marketa Vondrousova and China’s Qinwen Zheng up one place each to No 6 and No 7 respectively. Ons Jabeur and Jelena Ostapenko retain their positions as world No 9 and No 10 respectively to round out the top 10.

Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk makes top 20 debut this week

Italy’s Jasmine Paolini climbs one spot to achieve a new career-high of No 12. Madrid semi-finalist Madison Keys jumps four spots to No 16. Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk climbs one spot to No 20 to make her top 20 debut this week.

Elsewhere, Madrid quarter-finalist Yulia Putintseva and Sara Sorribes Tormo, who reached the last 16 last week, are the big movers in the top 50. The Kazakh climbs nine spots to No 41 while Sorribes Tormo moves up nine spots to No 47.

Argentina’s Maria Lourdes Carle rises 12 spots to No 71 after qualifying and making the third round in Madrid. The 24-year-old has risen more than 50 spots in the rankings since January. Australia’s Daria Saville is up 12 spots to No 84, continuing her comeback from injury. The 30-year-old was ranked outside the top 300 last August after missing the first six months of the 2023 season.

Veterans Sara Errani and Alize Cornet also have a good week. The Italian moves up seven spots to No 93 while Cornet, who will retire at the end of this year’s French Open, climbs eight spots to No 99.