WTA Rankings: Aryna Sabalenka thwarts Iga Swiatek as Madison Keys returns to top 10, Eva Lys +38

Aryna Sabalenka fended off the challenge from Iga Swiatek for the world No 1 ranking at the Australian Open, but Madison Keys and Belinda Becic enjoyed incredible runs and were nicely rewarded.

Having dropped 2,000 points at the start of the season-opening Grand Slam, Sabalenka was under pressure to outperform her closest challenger Swiatek.

And she did just that as she finished runner-up to Keys while Swiatek lost in the semi-final against the American.

Although she just missed out on a hat-trick of Australian Open titles, Sabalenka’s run to the final helped her to a 186-point lead over the Pole in the WTA Rankings.

The three-time Grand Slam winner started her 23rd week at No 1 on Monday and she is now in 18th place on the all-time list for most weeks at the top with Naomi Osaka (25 weeks) ahead of her.

She will draw level with Osaka as she is guaranteed to remain top for another two weeks with the biggest names in the business taking the next few weeks off.

There is further good news for Sabalenka as she only has 185 points to defend in February while Swiatek is defending 1,390 points.

Coco Gauff lost in the quarter-final at Melbourne Park, but she remains comfortably third in the rankings with Jasmine Paolini more than 1,000 points behind in fourth while Elena Rybakina is back in the top five.

The big top 20-mover was Keys as she equalled her career-best high of No 7 after climbing seven places on the back of her maiden Grand Slam title that earned her 2,000 points.

The American returns to the top 10 for the first time since 2023 while seventh is her highest position since 2019.

Paula Badosa reached the semi-final in Melbourne and she is also back in the top 10 for the first time since 2022 while Barbora Krejcikova drops down five places to No 14 after missing the hard-court major.

Yulia Putinseva makes her top 20 debut at No 20 as she climbs three places after reaching the third round while quarter-finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova is up nine places to No 23 – one place ahead of Elina Svitolina.

In terms of some of the big names, Ons Jabeur is up five spots to No 35, Naomi Osaka moves up eight places to No 42, Emma Raducanu climbs four places to No 56.

But Bencic – who only returned to action late last year after giving birth earlier in 2024 – was one of the biggest winners as the 2020 Olympic gold medallist surged 137 spots to No 157 after reaching the fourth round.

Back in the top 100, Olga Danilovic makes her top 50 debut as she jumped 14 places to No 41, Veronika Kudermetova is up 26 spots to No 51, Mccartney Kessler rises 15 places to No 52 and Jaqueline Cristian now sits at No 61, up 24 places.

Lucky loser Eva Lys makes her top 100 debut as she surged 38 spots to No 91 after reaching the fourth round.

Dayana Yastremska reached the semi-final last year, but she fell in the second round this time around and slips 39 places to No 72.

WTA Rankings Top 20

1. Aryna Sabalenka – 8,956 points
2. Iga Swiatek Poland – 8,770
3. Coco Gauff United States – 6,538
4. Jasmine Paolini Italy – 5,289
5. Elena Rybakina Kazakhstan – 4,893
6. Jessica Pegula United States – 4,861
7. Madison Keys United States – 4,680
8. Zheng Qinwen China – 4,095
9. Emma Navarro United States – 3,709
10. Paula Badosa Spain – 3,608
11. Daria Kasatkina – 3,311
12. Danielle Collins United States – 3,207
13. Diana Shnaider – 3,015
14. Barbora Krejcikova Czech Republic – 2,783
15. Mirra Andreeva – 2,665
16. Beatriz Hadid Maia Brazil – 2,554
17. Donna Vekic Croatia – 2,458
18. Anna Kalinskaya – 2,207
19. Karolina Muchova Czech Republic – 2,149
20. Yulia Putinseva Kazakhstan – 2,137