Coco Gauff will keep the World No. 2 ranking, at least in the short term, after Aryna Sabalenka's shock exit at the 2024 Canadian Open.
Gauff and Sabalenka entered the first high-profile tournament of the North American summer hard-court swing in Toronto as the main favorites for the title.
With Iga Swiatek taking a rare week off after her exertions at the Olympics, it was the young American who was the top seed at the WTA 1000 in Toronto.
Sabalenka, meanwhile, was the second seed playing in just her second tournament after recovering from a shoulder injury that ruined her Wimbledon plans in July.
The Belarusian had surrendered the World No. 2 ranking to Gauff after a costly quarterfinal defeat at the French Open to the talented Mirra Andreeva. However, the gap between herself and the US Open champion was only a slender one, and she was in pole position to make it up.
In fact, this week, Sabalenka could have usurped Gauff as the No. 2 in the WTA rankings. The 20-year-old dropped points from Washington (470) for her no-show because of the Olympics. Gauff was the defending champion there.
In Canada, the American was protecting quarterfinal points from last year. But she encountered a stumbling block in the round of 16 at the WTA 1000 event, losing to Diana Shnaider in straight sets.
Before the start of the tournament, the gap between the top two seeds in the rankings was only 447 points. Gauff's early exit meant that she lost 70 points from her initial tally of 7703.
Sabalenka, who advanced into the quarterfinal, was in the driver's seat to take over as the World No. 2 because she had a lot of points to gain from Canada (lost in the round of 16 in 2023).
But the 26-year-old was stunned by the in-form Amanda Anisimova in the last eight. This means Sabalenka will only add 110 points to her tally of 7256, which she started the tournament with.
Gauff will retain the No. 2 ranking, at least for this week, when she competes at the Cincinnati Open. Sabalenka will remain the World No. 3 for now.
Can Sabalenka Still Overtake Gauff Before US Open?
The short answer is yes. The top three seedings in the women's tournament at the US Open can differ from the current rankings. Seedings for the last Grand Slam of the season will be finalized after the Cincinnati Open, the last WTA 1000 event in the United States.
With Gauff defending 1000 points from her title win last year, she'll begin the tournament with a points tally of 6743. Sabalenka only drops semifinal points in Cincinnati, which means she will have 7026 points.
If the two-time Australian Open champion can match or better Gauff's result in Cincinnati, then she will be the World No. 2 after next week. The ideal scenario for the American is that she retains her title, as that is the most assured way of keeping the No. 2 ranking until the US Open.
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