Sabalenka Finishes As Year-End No. 1, Career-Best For Zheng In WTA Rankings

The year-end WTA rankings confirmed Aryna Sabalenka's place at No. 1, and Coco Gauff and Qinwen Zheng also received good news.

Sabalenka began the WTA Finals with a 1,046 point lead over Iga Swiatek. The Belarusian knew that three round-robin victories at the event would be enough to seal the year-end No. 1 ranking.

She began by defeating Qinwen Zheng and Jasmine Paolini in her opening two matches in straight sets, putting Sabalenka just one triumph away from guaranteeing the year-end spot at the top of the rankings.

However, Sabalenka did not need to win her final round-robin match after Iga Swiatek lost to Coco Gauff in the other group. That meant the Pole would not be able to overtake Sabalenka even if she won the WTA Finals for a second successive year.

Sabalenka could not finish an excellent season by winning the season-ending tournament. She lost in the semifinal to Gauff but insisted afterward there was no room for disappointment.

Gauff went on to win the WTA Finals title. She defeated Jessica Pegula, Swiatek, and Sabalenka to reach the final, which set up a meeting with the Olympic gold medalist and Australian Open runner-up, Qinwen Zheng.

The pair produced one of the best matches of the season. After over three hours on the court, Gauff triumphed 3-6, 6-4, 7-6, despite Zheng serving for the championship at 5-4 up in the decider.

That success ensured Gauff finished at No. 3 in the year-end rankings, the same spot as last season. She is also the American No. 1. Gauff beat compatriot Jessica Pegula, who finished 2024 at No. 7, to that position.

Jasmine Paolini ended her superb season at No. 4. The Italian reached that career-high ranking last week. Although she did not qualify for the semifinals at the WTA Finals, the ranking points earned from beating Elena Rybakina in the round-robin stage were enough to finish at No. 4.

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Zheng finished a minuscule four ranking points behind Paolini. However, finishing as the WTA Finals runner-up to Gauff saw her end at a career-high ranking of No. 5. The Olympic gold medalist has much to be optimistic about heading into 2025.

Elena Rybakina fell one place to No. 6. The WTA Finals was the Kazakhstani's first tournament back in over two months. She did not qualify for the semifinals but did manage an impressive victory against SabalenKA.

Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova made a late surge into the Top 10 after reaching the semifinals of the WTA Finals. She beat Pegula and Gauff in Riyadh, but Zheng proved too strong in the semifinal.

Emma Navarro and Daria Kasatkina complete the year-end Top 10 at No. 8 and No. 9, respectively. Navarro would have qualified for the WTA Finals under previous rules, and Kasatkina was critical of the new rule that saw Krejcikova qualify instead.

Krejcikova knocked Danielle Collins out of the Top 10. The Miami Open champion finished the season at No. 11 but will have an opportunity to go further in 2025 after reversing her decision to retire at the end of 2024.

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