The gap between Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek stretched to 836 points in the latest WTA rankings.
Swiatek lost her champion's points from winning San Diego at this time last year (precisely 345 points), bringing down her tally to 8,545 points. Sabalenka dropped points too, but only 99, sitting in prime position at the top with 9,381 points.
Just one tournament is left - the prestigious WTA Finals in Cancun - and the Pole doesn't control the outcome of her destiny. The rest of the top five is unlikely to have new names for the remainder of the season, but there might be changes in the order as Coco Gauff, newly-crowned Korea Open champion Jessica Pegula and Elena Rybakina fight for 3rd place.
China's Qinwen Zheng makes her Top 20 debut (19th) after winning the biggest WTA title of her career in Zhengzhou. She defeated former Roland Garros champion Barbora Krejcikova in the final to win the WTA 500 event. Krejcikova also made moves in the latest rankings, soaring to 13th.
Jasmine Paolini is Italy's top-ranked woman, sitting at a career-high mark of No. 30 after a semifinal run in Zhengzhou. While Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine re-enters the Top 40 by virtue of her quarterfinal finish at the same tournament.
Canada's Leylah Fernandez made the biggest leap this week, breaking the world's Top 50 once again aided by her title-winning run in Hong Kong - her first in 18 months at Tour level. Russia's Anna Blinkova drops out of the Top 50, losing her winner's points from Cluj-Napoca (won the title last year).
Katerina Siniakova is back in the Top 60, making up 25 spots. She was the vanquished finalist in that epic final in Hong Kong. Canada's Bianca Andreescu continues her freefall in the latest rankings, dropping down to 78th. She hasn't played since early August.
There is a place in the world's Top 100 for Viktorija Golubic who put together a near-perfect week at the 125K event in Rouen, France. The Swiss one-hander dropped just one set on her way to the title. She climbs to 87th.
Another veteran re-entering the centurion club is Laura Siegemund who stunned Top 20 player Liudmila Samsonova to reach the Zhengzhou quarterfinals. You can visit our dedicated rankings page to track all the movements this week.
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