Sabalenka At No. 1, Muchova & Sakkari Rise, Ostapenko & Vekic Fall In WTA Rankings
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Although Aryna Sabalenka did not play on the WTA Tour last week, her position at No. 1 was not threatened.
Sabalenka lost a lengthy and dramatic 2025 Australian Open final against Madison Keys. However, being the runner-up in Melbourne was good enough for the Belarusian to finish the tournament with a slender points lead over Iga Swiatek.
The world No. 1 is on 8,956 points, while Swiatek's total is 8,770. Those numbers are unchanged from last week since neither woman competed at last week's 2025 Austria Open Linz or the 2025 Singapore Open, unsurprising since they were the week after the Australian Open
There have been no changes to the Top 10 compared to last week. Coco Gauff is No. 3, Jasmine Paolini is No. 4, Elena Rybakina is No. 5, Jessica Pegula is No. 6, Madison Keys is No. 7, Qinwen Zheng is No. 8, Emma Navarro is No. 9, and Paula Badosa is No. 10.
Karolina Muchova moved up two places to No. 17 after reaching the semifinal of the event in Linz. Although that represented success to a certain degree, it also felt like a missed opportunity for the talented Czech.
The 2023 French Open runner-up was the No. 1 seed at the WTA 500 tournament and has been playing impressively in recent months, including making the 2024 US Open semifinal and finishing as the runner-up to Coco Gauff at the 2024 China Open.
However, she could not play her best tennis during a heavy 0-6, 4-6 defeat to Ekaterina Alexandrova. That means Muchova still has just one WTA title from 2019, which feels low for someone of her talent.
Alexandrova won the tournament in Linz after a dramatic final against Dayana Yastremska. This achievement raised her ranking to No. 25, five places higher than last week.
Yastremska was understandably devastated after losing the final, but her run still led to a significant ranking improvement. The Ukrainian jumped 22 places from No. 72 to No. 50 for being the second-best player at the Austrian Open Linz.
Maria Sakkari is back in the Top 30 after getting to the quarterfinal in Linz. The 2021 French Open semifinalist moved two places from No. 31 to No. 29 as she continues her return from a severe shoulder injury.
Jelena Ostapenko had one of the steepest falls in the rankings. The Latvian dropped points from winning last year's Austria Open Linz because she did not participate, probably because she reached the Australian Open women's doubles final. Ostapenko fell from No. 26 to No. 35.
Olympic silver medalist Donna Vekic traded places with Muchova. She was No. 17 in the rankings last week but dropped two spots to No. 19. The Croat did not defend the points from her semifinal run in Linz last year.
Elise Mertens won the Singapore Open. However, the four-time Grand Slam doubles champion's 250 points for that achievement was only good enough to rise one place to No. 31, putting her one position behind two-time Australian Open winner Victoria Azarenka at No. 30.
By contrast, Singapore Open runner-up Anni Li had the most significant jump of any player ranked inside the Top 100, rising 24 places from No. 85 to No. 61. The American is fast-improving and someone to watch this season.
Ons Jabeur rising one place to No. 33, Clara Tauson moving five spots to No. 34, and Liudmila Samsonova re-entering the Top 20 were other changes in the WTA rankings.
