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WTA Rankings: Sabalenka Firmly Ahead as Teenagers Make Major Moves

Sabalenka keeps a commanding lead while teenagers Iva Jovic and Tiantsoa Rajaonah rise sharply. 2025.

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The WTA rankings showed stability at the top in the first week following the US Open, while several youngsters posted dramatic climbs after their performances in Guadalajara and Sao Paulo.

There were no changes in the top 20, and the biggest names largely rested after the season-ending Grand Slam. World No 22 Elise Mertens was the highest-ranked player in action last week, losing in the second round in Mexico, while world No 27 Beatriz Haddad Maia was the top-ranked competitor in Sao Paolo.

Aryna Sabalenka remains a long way clear at No 1, leading by 3,292 points over Iga Swiatek, with Coco Gauff a further 59 points back in third. Swiatek will have an opportunity to close the gap at the WTA 500 Korea Open, where she has no points to defend. Sabalenka and Gauff are scheduled to return at the China Open next week.

Sabalenka has now spent 48 consecutive weeks at No 1 for a total of 56 weeks, placing her at No 13 on the all-time list for most weeks atop the WTA Rankings, eight weeks behind Simona Halep.

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Teenagers produced the biggest ranking moves. Seventeen-year-old Iva Jovic captured the Guadalajara WTA 500 title, defeating Emiliana Arango in the final. Jovic surged 37 places to a career-high of No 36, while Arango rose 33 spots to No 53. Nikola Bartunkova and Elsa Jacquemot fell in the semi-finals in Mexico; Bartunkova climbed 84 places to No 144 and Jacquemot moved up 21 places to No 62.

In Sao Paolo, 19-year-old Tiantsoa Rajaonah won her first tour-level title, beating Janice Tjen in the final and jumping 83 places to a new high of No 131. Rajaonah made her Grand Slam debut at this year’s French Open via a wildcard but lost in the first round. Tjen, who won a match on her US Open debut before losing in the second round, rose from No 130 to No 103 after finishing runner-up.

Great Britain’s Francisco Jones reached the semi-final and improved 12 places to No 73. Philippines star Alex Eala lost in the quarter-final to Tjen and moved up four places to No 57. Sonay Kartal was one of the largest fallers, dropping 29 spots to No 82.

1. Aryna Sabalenka – 11,225 points
2. Iga Swiatek Poland – 7,933
3. Coco Gauff United States – 7,874
4. Amanda Anisimova United States – 5,159
5. Mirra Andreeva – 4,793
6. Madison Keys United States – 4,579
7. Jessica Pegula United States – 4,383
8. Jasmine Paolini Italy – 4,006
9. Zheng Qinwen China – 4,003
10. Elena Rybakina Kazakhstan – 3,833
11. Ekaterina Alexandrova – 3,026
12. Clara Tauson Denmark – 2,721
13. Elina Svitolina Ukraine – 2,606
14. Naomi Osaka Japan – 2,489
15. Karolina Muchova Czech Republic – 2,488
16. Daria Kasatkina Australia – 2,421
17. Belinda Bencic Switzerland – 2,334
18. Emma Navarro United States – 2,310
19. Diana Shnaider – 2,246
20. Paola Badosa Spain – 2,195

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Analytics & Stats Player News WTA

Anisimova Enters WTA Top 3 and Becomes the New American No. 1

Amanda Anisimova rises to No. 3 in the WTA rankings and becomes the top American player. ©Prange2025

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Amanda Anisimova rises to a career-high No. 3 in the latest WTA rankings, marking her first appearance inside the Top 3 and establishing her as the top-ranked American player. She moves up from No. 4 while Coco Gauff drops from No. 3 to No. 4, a swap driven by this week’s points adjustments.

There were no tournaments last week, but points from Week 1 of 2025 have dropped off the rankings. Anisimova remains on 6,287 ranking points. Gauff’s total falls from 6,763 to 6,273 after last year’s United Cup results are removed. The net effect places Anisimova ahead of Gauff and makes her the highest-ranked American on either the ATP or WTA lists; Gauff is now the second-highest-ranked American.

Anisimova’s climb carries additional historical notes. She becomes just the third player born in the 2000s to reach the Top 3 in WTA history, and the fifth player born in that decade to achieve a Top 3 ranking across either the WTA or ATP. She is also the 15th American woman to reach the Top 3 since WTA rankings began in 1975. For context, 11 American men have reached the Top 3 since ATP rankings were introduced in 1973.

Other notable ranking changes this week include Linda Noskova moving from No. 13 to a personal best of No. 12. Clara Tauson slips from No. 12 to No. 14; Noskova lost her second match in Brisbane a year ago while Tauson won the Auckland title at the same time last season. Cristina Bucsa makes her Top 50 debut, rising from No. 51 to No. 50. Anastasia Potapova drops from No. 50 to No. 55; Bucsa lost in the first round in Brisbane last year while Potapova reached the third round.

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© 2025 Robert Prange

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Analytics & Stats Player News WTA

Hsieh Su-wei at 40: Four decades distilled into 40 defining numbers

Hsieh Su-wei turns 40: 40 milestones from No. 1 doubles weeks to Grand Slam and tour titles. Today!

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Hsieh Su-wei celebrates her 40th birthday with a resume few peers can match. A concise selection of career milestones captures the arc of a player who has excelled in doubles, enjoyed late-career singles highlights and returned to the tour with sustained success.

She first reached No. 1 in doubles on May 12, 2014, becoming the first Taiwanese player to reach the top spot in tennis in either women’s or men’s, singles or doubles. She claimed two Grand Slam mixed doubles titles at the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2024 alongside Jan Zielinski; those were their first and third tournaments together. Her three WTA singles titles came in 2012 (Kuala Lumpur and Guangzhou) and 2018 (Hiroshima).

Hsieh has won Grand Slam women’s doubles titles with four different partners: two with Peng Shuai, and one each with Barbora Strycova, Elise Mertens and Wang Xinyu. She has five Wimbledon titles, including four in women’s doubles (2013 with Peng, 2019 with Strycova, 2021 with Mertens and 2023 with Strycova) and one mixed in 2024 with Zielinski.

Her WTA Finals record features six appearances and a title in 2013 with Peng; she reached the semifinals in 2025 with Jelena Ostapenko. Across Grand Slams she owns seven women’s doubles majors, plus two mixed doubles majors. Indian Wells stands out among her 13 WTA 1000 doubles titles, winning it four times in 2014 (with Peng), 2018 (with Strycova), 2021 and 2014 (with Mertens).

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Other highlights: she has 36 doubles wins in 2025 (36-18), 37 career tour-level doubles titles (35 women’s, two mixed), and 40 career tour-level titles overall (three singles, 35 women’s doubles and two mixed). She spent 59 weeks at No. 1 in doubles and is one of only 18 women to log 50 or more weeks at the top. Her Top 10 and Top 15 singles victories mostly arrived in her 30s, including her first Top 10 singles win at Roland Garros in 2017 and a landmark win over reigning No. 1 Simona Halep at Wimbledon in 2018.

Early markers include a perfect 30-0 start below tour level at 15 in 2001 and her first Grand Slam doubles title at Wimbledon in 2013. She retired from singles in 2024 after Miami. Hsieh is the top seed in doubles in Brisbane this week alongside Jelena Ostapenko.

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Alcaraz Tops 2025 ATP Earnings List and Clears $60 Million in Career Prize Money

Alcaraz tops 2025 ATP prize money with over $21 million and passes $60 million career total. Update

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The ATP’s final prize money standings for 2025 confirm a season dominated by Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. Alcaraz led the tour with more than $21 million in prize money for the year, while Sinner followed with north of $19 million. World No. 3 Alexander Zverev ranked third on the list with $7.5 million.

Alcaraz’s 2025 total is the second-highest single-season haul in ATP history, behind only Novak Djokovic’s 2015 figure. Sinner’s earnings for 2025 also produced a milestone: he became the first player to exceed $19 million in a season and the first to top $16 million in two different seasons.

Beyond the single-season figures, Alcaraz’s 2025 earnings pushed his career prize money past $60 million. That achievement marks him as the first player, male or female, born since 2000 to reach that level. The draft also notes that he is the first player born since 1988 to pass the $60 million mark.

The final prize money leaderboard underlines the financial gap at the very top of men’s tennis in 2025, with the two leading players combining for the bulk of top-year payouts. The published top-10 list for 2025 places Alcaraz and Sinner well clear of the next tier, with Zverev as the highest earner after them.

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These numbers frame a season in which prize money concentrated at the top for a small group of players. Alcaraz’s performance in 2025 not only reinforced his place as the year’s top earner but also cemented a rapid climb in career earnings, while Sinner’s consistency produced an unprecedented dual-season benchmark in annual pay.

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