Aryna Sabalenka became the first woman to win back-to-back Australian Opens in 11 years this past weekend and took a giant stride towards topping the Olympics race.
The Belarusian defeated Qinwen Zheng in straight sets to defend her crown. Sabalenka is the fifth woman to win the Australian Open this century and not surrender a single set during the fortnight. Her dominance over the rest of the tour is now becoming a headache.
Zheng, who was totally outplayed in the final, is already qualified for the Olympic tennis tournament courtesy of winning the Asian Games last year, which is one way to book a spot in the draw. 56 of the 64 players must qualify based on the actual WTA ranking of June 10th, 2024.
Each country is limited to only four of their top-ranked players in the Top 56 to represent them. So that means, in the case of the USA, which has six women ranked in the Top 56, they can only send their highest-ranked four players.
These are Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, Madison Keys, and Emma Navarro. This list is subject to change between now and June 10th, depending on how each player performs.
Gauff is the current leader of the race, having recorded 5,855 points since mid-June 2023. She won three titles during the US swing last year, including her first Grand Slam at the US Open. Just behind her is Aryna Sabalenka, who owns 5,755 points.
Sabalenka could eclipse the young American in the next few weeks if she managed to go at least one round better than Gauff in the tournaments they will play in.
World No.1 Iga Swiatek is in third spot. Swiatek's Roland Garros win last year doesn't count in the points accumulation for the race. The top-ranked African woman is Ons Jabeur, who is in the 7th spot and ranks ahead of Elena Rybakina.
2024 Olympics Women's Race as of January 29th, 2024:
| Rank | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Coco Gauff | 5855 |
| 2 | Aryna Sabalenka | 5755 |
| 3 | Iga Swiatek | 4990 |
| 4 | Jessica Pegula | 4045 |
| 5 | Marketa Vondrousova | 3240 |
| 6 | Qinwen Zheng | 3183 |
| 7 | Ons Jabeur | 2907 |
| 8 | Elena Rybakina | 2638 |
| 9 | Maria Sakkari | 2582 |
| 10 | Jelena Ostapenko | 2216 |
| 11 | Daria Kasatkina | 2179 |
| 12 | Liudmila Samsonova | 1964 |
| 13 | Madison Keys | 1922 |
| 14 | Barbora Krejcikova | 1638 |
| 15 | Caroline Garcia | 1554 |
| 16 | Emma Navarro | 1537 |
| 17 | Karolina Muchova | 1510 |
| 18 | Ekaterina Alexandrova | 1469 |
| 19 | Beatriz Haddad Maia | 1434 |
| 20 | Elina Svitolina | 1415 |
| 21 | Jasmine Paolini | 1405 |
| 22 | Veronika Kudermetova | 1378 |
| 23 | Dayana Yastremska | 1262 |
| 24 | Linda Noskova | 1232 |
| 25 | Victoria Azarenka | 1098 |
| 26 | Petra Kvitova | 1070 |
| 27 | Katerina Siniakova | 1053 |
| 28 | Marta Kostyuk | 1049 |
| 29 | Leylah Fernandez | 1024 |
| 30 | Marie Bouzkova | 1012 |
| 31 | Katie Boulter | 988 |
| 32 | Elise Mertens | 968 |
| 33 | Clara Burel | 967 |
| 34 | Sofia Kenin | 963 |
| 35 | Anna Kalinskaya | 954 |
| 36 | Mirra Andreeva | 938 |
| 37 | Xinyu Wang | 915 |
| 38 | Yue Yuan | 906 |
| 39 | Viktorija Golubic | 861 |
| 40 | Magdalena Frech | 859 |
| 41 | Tamara Korpatsch | 855 |
| 42 | Caroline Dolehide | 841 |
| 43 | Lin Zhu | 820 |
| 44 | Sorana Cirstea | 819 |
| 45 | Arantxa Rus | 813 |
| 46 | Lesia Tsurenko | 802 |
| 47 | Cristina Bucsa | 796 |
| 48 | Tatjana Maria | 786 |
| 49 | Donna Vekic | 779 |
| 49 | Ana Bogdan | 779 |
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