Paris Olympics 2024: Women's singles power rankings ft. Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina & more
The Paris Olympics are just around the corner. The women’s singles tennis entry list consists of seasoned tour professionals as well as rising stars, all raring to showcase their prowess.
Here, we delve into the top women contenders vying for glory at the grand stage of the Olympics (the corresponding list for men can be found here).
The list has been prepared by taking into account the performances in the clay court season since the Tennis competition will be held at Stade Roland Garros, the mecca of clay courts. The following formula has been used to calculate the power rankings:
1x points earned in the 2024 clay swing + 0.5x points earned in the 2023 clay swing + 0.25x points earned in the 2022 clay swing. Only points earned in the WTA events have been considered, not lower-tier ITF or qualifying matches.
Women's singles power rankings at Paris 2024 ft. Iga Swiatek & more
#1 Iga Swiatek
With the Tokyo Olympics debacle behind her, where she lost in straight sets to Paula Badosa in the second round, the Pole is in pole position to stand atop the podium in Paris. The World No. 1 has established herself as a clay-court specialist, having won four French Open titles, including a hat trick run since 2022.
She has also emerged victorious at the Madrid Open and Italian Open, demonstrating her solid grasp of the surface. Notably, the Olympic spirit runs in Swiatek's veins as her father represented the nation in the Quadruple Sculls rowing event at the Seoul Olympics back in 1988.
#2 Coco Gauff
The American aims to walk in the footsteps of the legend and her idol, Serena Williams. Having just entered her twenties, Gauff is already a Grand Slam champion, winning the US Open last year.
Her clay court season has also been fruitful, culminating in a doubles title at Roland Garros, the same venue where the Paris Olympics will be held. Since she will be participating in singles as well as doubles (partnering with Jessica Pegula), both these Grand Slam titles will provide Gauff immense self-belief to go all the way through to the medal rounds.
#3 Elena Rybakina
Elena Rybakina started her clay swing this year with a WTA 500 title at the Stuttgart Open and followed it up with deep runs at the Madrid Open and the French Open, before losing out in closely-fought three-setters to the eventual finalists.
Already a Grand Slam champion at Wimbledon in 2022, she will strive to give Kazakhstan its first-ever Olympic medal in tennis.
#4 Jasmine Paolini
The diminutive athlete standing at just 1.63m has proved that height is no bar for success on the tour. A classic late bloomer, the twenty-eight-year-old has made two back-to-back finals appearances at the French Open and Wimbledon this year, catapulting her into the top 10 of the rankings.
She even made it to the final in the doubles event at the French Open this year, an impressive feat of being a double runner-up at an event. She will aspire to maintain this purple patch of form and go one step further to cross the final hurdle.
#5 Danielle Collins
The other American on this list, Danielle Collins has won the Charleston Open this year and made it to the finals of the Strasbourg Open, losing to compatriot Madison Keys who unfortunately missed out on Olympic qualification this time despite being a semifinalist in Rio 2016.
American tennis leads the all-time medal tally at the Games with a significant chunk coming from the Williams sisters (Venus Williams and Serena Williams) who have a whopping nine medals among them.
This time too, the USA contingent will be preparing to replicate the success of its predecessors and shake off the Tokyo 2020 shock of not securing a single medal for the first time since 1924.
#6 Mirra Andreeva
Still a teenager, the youngest (and the lowest-ranked) member on this list has already shown sparks of brilliance by reaching the semifinals at Roland Garros this year.
The Olympics can provide her a platform for a coming-of-age story if she can repeat her performance once again at the now-familiar Stade Roland Garros.
#7 Qinwen Zheng
China, despite being a global sporting superpower, has yet to find its footing in the world of tennis and has also been shrouded with controversy. To date, it has only two medals to boast of, both coming in the women’s doubles category.
In fact, women have done better than men, with Li Na being the only Grand Slam champion from the nation. Qinwen Zheng, currently sitting comfortably in the top 10, will hope to take notes from her. Zheng has proved that she is ready for the mega sporting extravaganza by claiming the title at the recently concluded Palermo Open.
#8 Beatriz Haddad Maia
The football-fanatic nation has yet to produce a Grand Slam winner in the singles category in the 21st century, with doubles events providing much-needed joy.
Beatriz Haddad Maia reached the Australian Open doubles finals in 2022 and the semifinals of the French Open last year, and will try to take heart from those runs to give Brazil its first Olympic medal in the singles event.
Dark horse: Karolina Muchova
Karolina Muchova’s best run among Grand Slams has been being the runner-up at the French Open in 2023. She even made it to the finals of the Palermo Open this year. This shows her penchant for the red dirt.
With Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Marketa Vondrousova pulling out of the Olympics at the last minute due to an injury, the responsibility of flying the Czech flag high falls on Muchova and the recently crowned Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova.
Dark horse: Elina Svitolina
The Ukrainian possesses six clay court titles and has made it to the quarters of the French Open four times. She is the only Olympic medalist on this list, having secured Bronze at Tokyo 2020, and will dream of going a step further this time.
These are the ten top women contenders for the upcoming Olympics. However, the world of sports is exciting and unpredictable and surprises can always spring up, with each player aiming to go 'Citius, Altius, Fortius' or 'Faster, Higher, Stronger.'