Aryna Sabalenka is the new world No. 1 in the latest WTA rankings, but she overtook Iga Swiatek due to a controversial rule.
Swiatek's dominance of the No. 1 spot has been incredible. She first reached the top of the rankings in April 2022 and had only been overtaken once until this week.
The four-time French Open champion briefly lost her place at the summit after the 2023 US Open to Sabalenka, but she reclaimed the mantle by winning the 2023 WTA Finals in Cancun.
Last week, she became just the seventh WTA player in history to have multiple spells of 50+ weeks at world No. 1. That is a testament to her remarkable consistency despite still being just 23.
Sabalenka's excellent results in recent months meant she was guaranteed to overtake Swiatek at No. 1 when the Pole dropped her points from securing the WTA Finals title last year.
The Belarusian won the Cincinnati Open, the US Open, and the Wuhan Open in the last two months. That left the 26-year-old on 9,716 points last week, just 69 points behind Swiatek on 9,785.
However, both women were penalized for not playing at least six WTA 500 events this season. That led to Swiatek and Sabalenka having the points from their lowest-earning tournament in 2024 removed.
Sabalenka only lost 10 points, but Swiatek had 120 points removed due to the WTA's controversial rule. That leaves this year's Australian Open and US Open champion at No. 1 with 9,706 points.
Swiatek, who is working with new coach Wim Fissette, can become No. 1 again at the 2024 WTA Finals, but she will be nearly 800 points behind when the year-end tournament starts after dropping last year's points.
Teenage prodigy Mirra Andreeva also jumped two spots in the latest WTA rankings from No. 19 to No. 17 after reaching the first WTA-500 final of her career at the Ningbo Open.
Andreeva lost to Daria Kasakina, but there was a touching moment during the trophy ceremony. The 17-year-old was in tears, and Kasatkina leaped from her chair to hug and comfort Andreeva.
Becoming the Ningbo Open champion saw Kasatkina re-enter the Top 10 at No. 9. She has reached six WTA-500 finals in 2024 and only missed out on qualifying for the WTA finals because of less impressive results at Grand Slams.
Danielle Collins was replaced in the Top 10 by Kasatkina. The American has not been able to compete recently due to illness, but fans will see the 30-year-old in action again after she reversed her decision to retire.
Karolina Muchova jumped five spots from No. 30 to No. 25. However, the Czech has another injury concern after retiring from the Ningbo Open semifinal against Andreeva because of a back injury.
Suzan Lamens was the biggest mover of the week. She had a stunning run to the title of the Japan Championships last week as a qualifier and has moved 37 places from No. 125 to No. 88.
Other WTA ranking changes include Yulia Putintseva entering the Top 30, Taylor Townsend falling 15 places to No. 66, and Diane Parry getting back inside the Top 50, just one place below her career-high ranking of No. 49.
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