Swiatek reduces Sabalenka's No. 1 lead, Raducanu rises in WTA Rankings

The race for the year-end No. 1 spot on the WTA Tour took another fascinating turn after Iga Swiatek narrowed Aryna Sabalenka's lead.

Sabalenka has been the No. 1 since October, when she overtook Swiatek. The Pole had dominated that position for over two years before that, only slipping from the summit once after the 2023 US Open before regaining it by winning the 2024 WTA Finals.

A few months ago, Swiatek's chances of becoming No. 1 again before the year ended looked near impossible. She trailed Sabalenka by a massive margin after losing to the Belarusian in the 2025 French Open semifinal.

That loss confirmed 12 months without a final for Swiatek since winning the 2024 title at Roland Garros. She began the grass-court swing, usually her weakest time of the season, with low expectations from many.

However, Swiatek has since enjoyed a stunning renaissance. After breaking her final drought at the 2025 Bad Homburg Open, she won a maiden Wimbledon title, confirmed with a historic 6-0, 6-0 final triumph against Amanda Anisimova.

The six-time Grand Slam champion followed that with a first Cincinnati Open title. Anisimova got her revenge in their US Open quarterfinal, but Swiatek bounced back by winning last week's 2025 Korea Open, overcoming Ekaterina Alexandrova 1-6, 7-6, 7-5 in a thrilling final.

That success in Seoul means Swiatek now has 8,433 points. Although that is almost 3,000 points less than Sabalenka's 11,225, she has a realistic chance of overtaking her before the season ends.

Swiatek is defending very few points after missing last year's Asian swing and not progressing beyond the 2024 WTA Finals' group stage. Sabalenka won the 2024 Wuhan Open and reached the WTA Finals' semifinal.

The Belarusian is also guaranteed to drop the points from getting to the 2024 China Open semifinal. Sabalenka announced her withdrawal from the 2025 iteration, which begins on Wednesday, giving Swiatek an ideal chance to reduce the points gap further.

There were no alterations to the Top 10. Coco Gauff is No. 3, Amanda Anisimova is No. 4, Mirra Andreeva is No. 5, Madison Keys is No. 6, Jessica Pegula is No. 7, Jasmine Paolini is No. 9, Qinwen Zheng is No. 9, and Elena Rybakina is No. 10.

Emma Raducanu lost a thrilling round of 16 battle in Seoul against Barbora Krejcikova 6-4, 6-7, 1-6 despite holding match points. Winning in the opening round was still enough for the Briton to rise one spot to No. 32.

Paula Badosa made her first appearance since Wimbledon at last week's 2025 Billie Jean King Cup Finals. She lost a close match to Elina Svitolina in Spain's quarterfinal defeat against Ukraine, but the Australian Open semifinalist still moved two spots from No. 20 to No. 18.

Rising teenager Maya Joint's excellent breakthrough season continued with a semifinal run in Seoul. That allowed the 19-year-old to jump 10 positions to No. 36. She has already won titles in Rabat and Eastbourne this season.

Beatriz Haddad Maia plummeting 15 positions to No. 45 after failing to defend her Korea Open title, Leylah Fernandez rising three places to No. 25, and Sofia Kenin moving four spots to No. 26 were among the other changes.