Aryna Sabalenka entered the 2025 North American hard-court swing under pressure but closed the series firmly at world No 1 after successfully defending her US Open crown. The swing consisted of six tournaments — the Citi DC Open, Canadian Open, Cincinnati Open, Monterrey Open, Tennis in the Land and the US Open — and ran from July 21 in Washington DC to September 8 at Flushing Meadows.

Six different champions emerged: Leylah Fernandez won in DC, Victoria Mboko lifted the trophy in Montreal, Iga Swiatek triumphed in Cincinnati, Diana Shnaider prevailed in Monterrey, Sorana Cîrstea took the Cleveland title and Sabalenka claimed New York.

Sabalenka’s US Open defence preserved her top ranking despite skipping Canada and an early exit in Cincinnati. She began the swing with a 4,751-point lead over Coco Gauff and finished with a 3,292-point advantage. The WTA rankings after the swing list Sabalenka on 12,420 points, Coco Gauff 7,669, Iga Swiatek 6,813, Jessica Pegula 6,423 and Mirra Andreeva 5,163, with others including Zheng Qinwen, Amanda Anisimova, Madison Keys, Jasmine Paolini and Paola Badosa rounding out the top 10.

Coco Gauff returned to No 2 after winning Cincinnati and advancing to the US Open quarter-final. Amanda Anisimova climbed three places to a new No 4 after following her Wimbledon runner-up finish with a run to the US Open final; Jessica Pegula dropped three spots.

There were notable moves further down the board. Naomi Osaka rose 37 places to No 14 after finishing runner-up in Montreal and reaching the US Open semi-final. Mboko rocketed from No 88 on July 21 to No 23, collecting 1,000 points for her Montreal title, then skipped Cincinnati and lost in the first round at the US Open (+65). Emma Raducanu moved up 12 places to No 34 after a Washington DC quarter-final and a series of third-round exits. Marketa Vondrousova and Barbora Krejcikova also climbed significantly following strong US Open runs. Alex Eala became the first Filipino woman to win a Grand Slam singles match, then won a WTA 125K in Mexico and rose eight places to No 61.

The North American swing reshaped several rankings while confirming Sabalenka’s hold on the top spot.

Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek have been the defining WTA players of the decade and 2025 has only intensified their rivalry. Sabalenka sits atop the WTA Rankings on 11,225 points, while Swiatek occupies second on 7,933, a deficit of 3,292 points. The season has been Sabalenka’s strongest to date, highlighted by a US Open title. Swiatek added a first Wimbledon crown and joined the small group of women to complete the Surface Slam.

In the WTA Race to Riyadh, which counts only points earned in 2025, Sabalenka leads with 9,610 points to Swiatek’s 7,533. The Pole has a notable advantage in the run-in: she only has 400 points left to defend before year end, a low total that creates opportunity.

Last year both players produced identical US Open outcomes: Sabalenka defended her title while Swiatek exited in the quarter-finals. Swiatek’s reduced late-season output in 2024 was linked to a provisional suspension following a failed drugs test at the Cincinnati Open; that provisional ban was lifted ahead of the WTA Finals. After the suspension, Swiatek played only the WTA Finals post-US Open, collecting 200 points for each of two group wins and 400 points in total after failing to progress beyond the round-robin stage.

By contrast Sabalenka accumulated more late-season points in 2024: 215 for a China Open quarter-final and 1,000 for defending Wuhan, then 400 at the WTA Finals. That left Sabalenka with 1,615 points to defend this season, 1,215 more than Swiatek.

Both players have secured places at the WTA Finals in Riyadh and have committed to the Beijing WTA 1000 event. Swiatek returns to Beijing after lifting that title in 2023; Sabalenka is seeking her first Beijing victory. Both are also likely to play in Wuhan, where Sabalenka aims for a fourth straight title and Swiatek could make a debut. Swiatek remains mathematically capable of overtaking Sabalenka, aided by the potential to earn up to 2,500 points at the WTA Finals, but Sabalenka’s 2025 consistency means the world No 1 still holds the advantage.

Jannik Sinner conceded a central weakness after his US Open final defeat to Carlos Alcaraz, admitting elements of his game are predictable and will require change. The admission echoed advice Novak Djokovic offered earlier through Darren Cahill after their Wimbledon meeting, a conversation Cahill described in detail on the Served podcast.

“One of the players that I tapped on the shoulder — he (Sinner) lost to Novak a couple of years ago at Wimbledon in five sets. Won the first two sets, Novak came back and ran away with it,” explained the Australian, in an appearance on the Served podcast.

“Novak got used to his ball, got used to the shape, got used to the pace and then just locked in, like Novak does, and doesn’t miss. And won the last three sets reasonably easily.

“And I saw Novak, and he’s always great with this, he’s always been incredible when you tap him on the shoulder. And I said, ‘Hey listen, I’ve just started with Jannik, don’t tell me anything you don’t want to tell me, but can I ask what you were feeling out there?’ And he was incredible.

“He basically said, ‘Hey listen. Good luck with working with him. Hits the ball great, but there’s no variation. So you know, there’s no shape on his shot. There’s no height over the net. Doesn’t come to the net. He’s not trying to bring me in, I know that he returns well, but he’s not attacking my serve on the return of serve.

“So he went through his whole game and broke it down. It wasn’t like it was revelations to what we didn’t know about Jannik and what we were trying to change in his game.

“But when you take that conversation and sit down with a young man like Jannik Sinner and say,’ Hey, listen, I just spoke to Novak and this is what he thinks’, that leaves a big impression on a young player. So for Jannik it’s: ‘Right, give it to me. Let’s start doing these changes’.”

Cahill says those changes produced notable gains: Sinner and his team went on to win four Grand Slam titles and Sinner rose to No 1 in the ATP Rankings. Yet the US Open final loss to Alcaraz suggested the rivalry has shifted, with Alcaraz now the target Sinner must chase after improving following his own defeat to Sinner at Wimbledon.

Sinner did not shy from assessment after the match. “I was very predictable today,” conceded Sinner. “He did many things, he changed up the game. That’s also his style of how he plays now it’s gonna be on me if I want to make changes or not, you know, so that’s definitely, we are gonna work on that. Trying to be more prepared for the next match, what I will play against him.

“It also, I feel like, depends how you arrive to play against Carlos. You know, one thing is when the scoreline matches before it’s comfortable. But you always do the same things, you know, like I did, for example, during this tournament.

“I didn’t make one volley, you know, I didn’t use a lot of drop shots. And then you arrive to a point where you play against Carlos when, where you have to go out of the comfort zone so I’m gonna aim to, you know, maybe even losing some matches from now on, but trying to do some changes, trying to be a bit more unpredictable as a player and because I think that’s what I have to do, trying to become a better tennis player.”

Sinner also hinted at the need to improve net play and add consistency to his first serve. He remained composed after the loss but acknowledged that only an upgraded all-court game will close the gap with his chief rival.