Sabalenka Extends No. 1 Lead, Andreeva & Rybakina Fall, Paolini Rises In WTA Rankings

Aryna Sabalenka opened up a significant lead over Iga Swiatek at No. 1 in the WTA rankings after her superb tournament at the 2025 Miami Open.

Sabalenka has been the world No. 1 since shortly before the 2024 WTA Finals. She ended last season in that position for the first time after coming close to achieving it in 2023 before being overtaken by Iga Swiatek.

The three-time Grand Slam champion won a maiden title at the Miami Open after beating Jessica Pegula in the final. It was the third time she has beaten the American in a final since August, also doing so at the Cincinnati Open and US Open.

Sabalenka's heroics in Miami took her ranking points total to 10541. That puts her more than 3000 points ahead of Swiatek at No. 2, who has 7470 points after losing to Alexandra Eala in the Miami Open round of 16.

Swiatek and Sabalenka have many points to defend during the upcoming European clay court swing starting in two weeks, but the Pole has more to defend from winning titles at the Madrid Open, Italian Open, and French Open. Sabalenka was the runner-up in Madrid and the Italian Open.

None of the Top 5 has changed, but Jessica Pegula closed the gap to Coco Gauff at No. 3. The younger American has 6063, just 267 more than Pegula, who benefited from being the runner-up in Miami. Madison Keys is No. 5 with 4949 points.

Jasmine Paolini was rewarded for her impressive run to the semifinal, including a thrilling victory against Naomi Osaka in the round of 16. She moved up one spot to No. 6 and has 4843 points.

Paolini overtook Mirra Andreeva, who dropped to No. 7. The teenager lost a heated round-of-32 match against Amanda Anisimova, during which Andreeva doubted her opponent's sincerity when she called the physio mid-game for a blister on her finger.

Anisimova issued a fiery response on social media afterward, giving a close-up view of the blister before raising her middle finger to the camera to form a well-known insult. Their next meeting will undoubtedly draw attention.

Qinwen Zheng rose one spot to No. 8, and Paula Badosa, despite having to withdraw before her round of 16 match with an injury that has also ruled her out of the 2025 Charleston Open, which began on Monday.

The 2024 Miami Open runner-up, Elena Rybakina, paid the price for being unable to defend those points from last year. She lost in the round of 64 to Ashlyn Krueger and slid from No. 8 to No. 10 in the latest rankings.

Emma Navarro was the only player to slip outside the Top 10 in the latest rankings. Navarro, who was defeated in an epic match against Emma Raducanu at the Miami Open, fell from No. 10 to No. 11.

Raducanu went on to reach the quarterfinal, ultimately losing a high-quality match against Jessica Pegula. She has been rewarded with re-entering the Top 50, catapulting herself from No. 60 to No. 48.

The WTA rankings also saw Elina Svitolina re-enter the Top 20 after jumping from No. 22 to No. 18 and Danielle Collins sink from No. 15 to No. 22 after failing to defend her title in Miami.