Swiatek Increases Lead Over Gauff And Sabalenka In Olympics Race

Swiatek Increases Lead Over Gauff And Sabalenka In Olympics Race

by Nurein Ahmed

A few weeks ago, Iga Swiatek took control of the WTA Olympics Race, and as of this week, she has strengthened her grip on the No. 1 spot.

The Pole won Indian Wells for a second time in a rematch of the 2022 final last Sunday. She blasted past Maria Sakkari 6-4, 6-0, and clocked 1000 points, taking her tally to 7,380.

For context, the 2024 Paris Olympics tennis tournament will have a 64-player draw for both the men's and women's events competing in singles. Of the 64 players, 56 will qualify based on their actual ranking on June 10th, 2024, which will be in line with the Olympics Race.

This race began compiling points in mid-June 2023, and as of March 18th, Swiatek has accrued the most points and won the most titles. Coco Gauff has dropped to second place with 6,470 points.

Aryna Sabalenka returned to winning ways in Indian Wells but did not progress beyond the round of 16. She has to settle for third spot with 5,885 points. She will compete as a neutral athlete because the rules restrict Russian and Belarusian players from playing under their flags.

Jessica Pegula lost to Belinda Bencic, the eventual gold medalist in Tokyo, during the last Olympics. She is keen to improve on her first-round exit from three years ago. Currently, Pegula ranks fourth and is the USA's no. 2 player.

Elena Rybakina could overtake her should the Kazakh record a stronger run in Miami. Defending silver medalist Marketa Vondrousova sits in sixth place but won't be able to add any points in Miami after withdrawing from the event following the loss of her grandfather.

Qinwen Zheng (7th) has already qualified for the Paris Olympics courtesy of winning the Asian Games last year. Maria Sakkar, Ons Jabeur and Jelena Ostapenko complete the Top 10.

The 2024 Paris Olympics tennis tournament will be played on the clay courts of Stade Roland Garros from July 27th to August 4th.

2024 Women's Race To Olympics as of March 18, 2024:

Rank Player Points
1 Iga Swiatek 7390
2 Coco Gauff 6480
3 Aryna Sabalenka 5895
4 Jessica Pegula 4260
5 Elena Rybakina 4013
6 Marketa Vondrousova 3640
7 Qinwen Zheng 3538
8 Maria Sakkari 3373
9 Ons Jabeur 3045
10 Jelena Ostapenko 2975
11 Daria Kasatkina 2654
12 Jasmine Paolini 2545
13 Liudmila Samsonova 2309
14 Emma Navarro 2142
15 Madison Keys 1997
16 Ekaterina Alexandrova 1943
17 Marta Kostyuk 1839
18 Barbora Krejcikova 1756
19 Beatriz Haddad Maia 1725
20 Anna Kalinskaya 1719
21 Caroline Garcia 1650
22 Elina Svitolina 1610
23 Veronika Kudermetova 1529
24 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 1528
25 Karolina Muchova 1510
26 Katie Boulter 1508
27 Linda Noskova 1452
28 Dayana Yastremska 1411
29 Sorana Cirstea 1402
30 Yue Yuan 1401
31 Victoria Azarenka 1398
32 Katerina Siniakova 1347
33 Leylah Fernandez 1325
34 Elise Mertens 1280
35 Donna Vekic 1231
36 Xinyu Wang 1164
37 Clara Burel 1149
38 Danielle Collins 1139
39 Marie Bouzkova 1133
40 Karolina Pliskova 1110
41 Lin Zhu 1079
42 Petra Kvitova 1070
43 Magdalena Frech 1060
44 Anastasia Potapova 1059
45 Tatjana Maria 1025
46 Sofia Kenin 1004
47 Xiyu Wang 990
48 Lesia Tsurenko 969
49 Cristina Bucsa 967
50 Ana Bogdan 962
51 Mirra Andreeva 958
52 Diana Shnaider 949
53 Diane Parry 945
54 Caroline Dolehide 938
55 Anna Blinkova 927
56 Lucia Bronzetti 923
57 Ashlyn Krueger 914
58 Arantxa Rus 908
59 Anhelina Kalinina 888
60 Tamara Korpatsch 887
61 Elisabetta Cocciaretto 882
62 Magda Linette 872
63 Yafan Wang 862
64 Viktorija Golubic 861
65 Nadia Podoroska 837
66 Yulia Putintseva 824
67 Oceane Dodin 815
68 Sloane Stephens 809
69 Sara Sorribes Tormo 792
70 Harriet Dart 783
71 Belinda Bencic 772
72 Petra Martic 770
73 Erika Andreeva 755
74 Viktoriya Tomova 754
75 Nao Hibino 730
76 Taylor Townsend 720
77 Jodie Burrage 715
78 Zhuoxuan Bai 710
79 Marina Bassols Ribera 698
80 Laura Siegemund 694
81 Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 690
82 Jaqueline Cristian 687
83 Martina Trevisan 685
84 Greet Minnen 679
85 Daria Saville 672
86 McCartney Kessler 668
87 Renata Zarazua 661
88 Brenda Fruhvirtova 654
89 Alize Cornet 643
90 Maria Timofeeva 636
91 Arina Rodionova 622
92 Mai Hontama 621
93 Aliaksandra Sasnovich 618
94 Hailey Baptiste 605
95 Darja Semenistaja 604
96 Emina Bektas 602
97 Caroline Wozniacki 598
98 Jule Niemeier 595
99 Clara Tauson 578
100 Peyton Stearns 573

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