Despite missing the whole calendar year due to a doping ban, Simona Halep surprisingly ranked 13th in the latest UTR rankings.
The UTR (Universal Tennis Rating) is a global rating system that provides a real and accurate measurement of the skill level of all tennis players regardless of age, gender, or location of any match they play. It has a rating scale between 1.00 to 16.50.
A player with an index of 1.00 is usually a beginner, while a high-level pro normally has a double-digit rating. The UTR gives the greatest weighting to match results and considers the quality of opposition a player will face rather than the number of matches they play.
So, in hindsight, the higher the UTR, the greater the skill level. UTR differs from official rankings, which is why Simona Halep, currently unranked in the WTA rankings due to her inactivity (banned for up to four years for doping), has a UTR of 12.58 and ranks 13th among WTA players.
Iga Swiatek is currently at the top of the pile with a UTR of 13.30. The Polish star is also the WTA World No. 1, having finished the 2023 season in the best possible way. Swiatek won the two biggest tournaments of the autumnal season in Beijing and Cancun.
Swiatek pipped American teenage star Coco Gauff, who won a maiden Grand Slam at the US Open, to the top spot. Gauff has a 12.97 rating, which is marginally better than that of compatriot Jessica Pegula who ranked third in the year-end list.
The other surprising inclusion in the UTR rankings is Paula Badosa, who finished 10th with an overall rating of 12.66 despite spending the last six months nursing a spinal injury. One of the most notable names in the Top 20 is 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva, who has exceeded expectations playing regular tennis at the WTA level.
The young Russian has a rating of 12.62, slightly higher than Ons Jabeur (current Top 10 player) and Grand Slam champions Petra Kvitova and Jelena Ostapenko.
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