WTA Rankings update: Madrid Open champion Iga Swiatek continues reign at the top, Madison Keys closes in on top 15 re-entry
Iga Swiatek continued her domination at the helm of women's tennis on the back of her recent spectacular win against Aryna Sabalenka in the Madrid Open finals.
Her first triumph in the Spanish capital means that she now sits with 10,910 points, 3,412 points clear of Sabalenka in the second spot. She enters her 103rd week at No. 1 in the rankings and continues to fortify her grip on that elusive spot.
Swiatek heads to Rome next and will look to better her quarterfinal run from last year. Up against eventual champion Elena Rybakina, Swiatek was forced to retire with an injury in the third set with the score at 2-6, 7-6 (3), 2-2. We could likely see another deep run from the clay court specialist heading into the French Open, and it is unlikely that she will be dethroned from the top spot anytime soon.
Sabalenka, meanwhile, remains at No. 2 but has seen a considerable drop in points after she failed to defend her title in Madrid. She currently sits with 7,498 points.
Coco Gauff remains at No. 3 with 7,313 points, and ever so close to Sabalenka. Rybakina also retains fourth spot with 6,673 points. Both players will look to up their game in the next few weeks as they continue to mount a serious charge at the top two spots in the rankings.
Pegula, who's been out of action recently with a suspected neck injury, stays put in fifth with 4,655 points. Maria Sakkari dropping two places from sixth to eighth means that Marketa Vondrousova and Qinwen Zheng move up one spot each.
Vondrousova's points tally is currently at 4,090, Zheng's is at 3,945, and Sakkari's is at 3,925. Ons Jabeur and Jelena Ostapenko round of the top 10 spots with 3,748 points and 3,493 points each.
Madison Keys makes huge strides after impressive run in Madrid
Madison Keys turned back the clock recently in Madrid with her spectacular run to the last four. She got the better of the likes of Irina-Camelia Begu, Liudmila Samsonova, third seed Coco Gauff, and eighth seed Ons Jabeur en route to her 6-1, 6-3 semifinal loss to World No. 1 Iga Swiatek.
The American sits pretty with 2,688 points to her name while also having risen four spots, from 20 to 16, in the WTA rankings. She also inches closer to a top-15 return.
Her rise means that Ekaterina Alexandrova dropped two spots and Elina Svitolina dropped one. Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk has finally broken into the top 20 for the first time in her career, with 2,235 points.
Other big movers include Veronica Kudermetova, who dropped 6 spots after failing to defend her semi-final points in Madrid. She fell in her opening match this time around.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (21), Emma Navarro (22), and Caroline Garcia (23) all move up one spot while Victoria Azarenka (24) moves up two.
Katerina Siniakova also moves up four spots into 37 with 1,510 points. Russian youngster Mirra Andreeva jumps three spots into 40 after her impressive run to the last eight in Madrid. Yulia Putinseva also moves up nine spots on the back of her impressive quarterfinal run in Madrid.