The 2025 US Open reshaped the WTA landscape while confirming a familiar hierarchy at the very top. Aryna Sabalenka extended her hold on world No 1 by reaching a third straight final at Flushing Meadows and will keep a healthy lead after the tournament. The live rankings show Sabalenka on 11,225 points, with Iga Swiatek second on 7,933 and Coco Gauff third on 7,874.

Sabalenka is 2,592 points clear of Swiatek in the live rankings. If she defends her crown she will retain the same 3,292-point lead over Swiatek that she started the event with.

Swiatek had an opening opportunity to gain on Sabalenka, having been a quarter-finalist at last year’s US Open, but she was beaten by Amanda Anisimova at the last eight stage this time. Anisimova’s run to her second straight major final, following Wimbledon, lifts her five places to a new career-high of world No 4. The rankings list also places Jessica Pegula, who reached the semi-finals, on course to drop from fourth to seventh having been runner-up last year.

Several other movements followed the results in New York. Mirra Andreeva remains fifth after a third round exit, while Madison Keys stays sixth after an opening-round loss. Jasmine Paolini remains at No 8 after a third round defeat. Zheng Qinwen, who missed the event through injury, will fall from seventh to ninth. Elena Rybakina’s run to the last 16 keeps her at No 10.

Notable climbs include Naomi Osaka, who rose from 24th to 14th after reaching the semi-finals — her highest ranking since returning to tennis after the birth of her daughter. Marketa Vondrousova moved from 60th to 36th after reaching the quarter-finals, and Barbora Krejcikova jumped from 62nd to 40th for making the last eight. Cristina Bucsa rose from 95th to 61st after advancing to the fourth round. Other significant shifts included Taylor Townsend (139th to 111th) and Emma Navarro (11th to 18th) following her third round defeat.

Rick Macci has weighed in on whether Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are operating at a level comparable to Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in their primes. Macci, who has coached five players who became world No 1, argues the current duo belong in that conversation.

Since the start of 2024, Sinner and Alcaraz have emerged as the Tour’s dominant forces, meeting in the finals at Cincinnati, Wimbledon, the French Open and the Italian Open. They have also taken seven of the last seven Grand Slam titles between them, with Sinner winning four and Alcaraz three. Alcaraz has not lost to anyone other than Sinner since his April defeat to Holger Rune in Barcelona, and Sinner’s only loss to a non-Alcaraz opponent since August 2024 came against Alexander Bublik in Halle.

Asked whether the two young stars measure up to the peak of the sport’s greats, Macci did not hesitate: “Absolutely, I think you could even put [Pete] Sampras in there,” said Macci, who has coached five players who became world No 1.

“You know, I would put Sinner and Alcaraz, Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Sampras… I think, all things being equal – technology, rackets, the string. Absolutely.

“Here’s why: tennis is a game of inches from one era to another and the mental part, playing the big points, delivering the goods and getting your serve in on an AD-point.

“These are microscopic things that happen in a tennis match and I’m just a firm believer of their technical base and their movement base – the guys I just mentioned – was so good and their athletic base was so good. But mentally, they were a cut above, that’s why they won all those Grand Slams.

“So yeah, that would be a street fight like no other if you had all those guys in. Now when you start throwing… you go back farther and you start talking about players, it’s hard for me to even go there because they hit the ball very differently. Whether it be [Jimmy] Connors, [John] McEnroe, [Bjorn] Borg — you can’t even go down that.

“I could maybe even throw [Andre] Agassi into this mix, you never know. But I wouldn’t go too far back. But 100%, because they have it between the ears, champions know how to deliver at crunch time.”

Djokovic, Nadal and Federer remain the three men with the most Grand Slam titles in history, on 24, 22 and 20 respectively. Alcaraz has five majors and Sinner four.

Novak Djokovic arrives at the 2025 US Open chasing a record-extending 25th major. If he succeeds, he would become the oldest player in history to win a major singles title, a mark that would follow his last triumph at the 2023 US Open when he was 36.

His long career has been defined by a pursuit of the Grand Slam totals held by his great rivals. Before the 2011 Australian Open, Roger Federer had 16 majors and Rafael Nadal had nine, while Djokovic had one. Djokovic’s victory at the 2021 Wimbledon Championships drew him level with Federer and Nadal at 20 majors each. Federer retired on 20 in 2022, and Nadal later recaptured the lead with his 21st and 22nd Slams in 2022. Nadal’s 2022 French Open was his final major, and Djokovic subsequently added four more to stand alone at the top of the all-time list.

After the 2021 Wimbledon title, John McEnroe offered a clear forecast for Djokovic’s future haul of majors. In July 2021 he said:

“Djokovic is playing better than he has ever played,” the former world No 1 told July 2021.

“I think he will probably win at least four or five more, obviously depending on staying healthy.

“Djokovic has put himself so far out in front of everyone in terms of his ability to embrace what he is doing – in terms of creating history – and being able to execute under a lot of stress

“You’re trying to break the all-time records – there is a lot of pressure. He’s able to play his best tennis at this point.

“You expect that to go on for another couple of years, unless someone steps up and realises how great they are.”

The seven-time major singles champion added: “If someone had said to me when I was playing that there would not only be one guy to win 20 majors but there would be three, I would have said the same thing as what I said to the umpire in 1981 – you cannot be serious!”

McEnroe’s projection of four or five additional Slams is now measured against Djokovic’s run toward a 25th title at Flushing Meadows in 2025.