The 2024 Australian Open Women's Singles has come to an end, and it's time to analyse what's happening with the WTA rankings. This bout could have a profound impact on the fight for world number one, and Sabalenka took a big step back to world number one by leapfrogging Iga Swiatek.
The massive loss of many of the world's top players in the first week of the 2024 Australian Open could create even more confusion in the top 10 of the WTA rankings, but there is much to analyze. This is not just because of their direct impact, but also because they could be turning points for several important figures in women's tennis. Sabalenka successfully defended her title and took a big step forward in her desire to regain a position as world No. 1, while Zheng Qinwen became a new member of the world top 10. However, there's a lot more to be done.
It's not for nothing to think that the World No. 1 fight between Alina Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek could turn into a three-legged tie as Gauff continues her progress. The American is already firmly in the top three of the rankings, with 540 points and is not far from the top two, considering she didn't have many points to defend in the first half of the season. With only 865 points separating Alina and Iga from Iga so a change of power is likely to happen soon, given the upcoming intensive season phase of WTA 500 and WTA 1000 events, where Swiatek will need to get back to her best if she wants to stay on top.
She clearly has what it takes to break into the top 10 and that was confirmed before anyone expected it. Zheng Qinwen became the world No. 7 from this week, thanks to her excellent performance in Melbourne, where she replaced Elena Ostapenko as a member of this special club, while Elena Rybakina lost her place. The inability to defend her runner-up title last year dropped the Kazakhstani to fifth, and she will need to improve if she wants to become one of the best in the world and surpass Pegula.
If we look back at the players further down the rankings, we see that Elena Svitolina is back in the top 20 in the world, while some of the rookies who have performed well so far this season and reached their all-time best rankings are also close to that boundary. This includes Emma Navarro (23rd), Jasmin Paolini (24th), Marta Kostyuk (28th), Linda Noskova (30th), Mila Andreeva (35th) and Anna Karinskaya (38th), although the most notable improvement was Dayana Yasteremska, who rose 64 places and is now ranked 29th in the world thanks to her semi-final results, but still far from her personal best ranking, which is 21st.