The first Grand Slam tournament of the 2023 season is complete, with brand-new Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka leading a number of important moves in the latest edition of the WTA rankings.
Sabalenka returned to a career high of two. In her past three tournaments, the 24-year-old has amassed a rating of 3,525. In addition to earning 2,000 points for winning the title, Sabalenka also earned 470 points for winning the title at Adelaide 1 and 955 points for finishing runner-up in last year’s WTA Finals.
Australian Open reaction
Even with her recent success, Sabalenka still trails current world No. 1 Iga Swiatek by 4,385 points. However, through Roland Garros, Sabalenka is defending 1,115 rating points compared to Swiatek’s 6,270.
Meanwhile, Swiatek extended its stay at number one to 44 consecutive weeks, the fourth longest after debuting at the position. Only Stephanie Graf (186), Martina Hingis (80) and Serena Williams (57) have longer stays when climbing to the summit for the first time.
Rybakina’s Top 10 debut
Elena Rybakina entered the WTA top 10 for the first time in her career this week, becoming the first player (male or female) representing Kazakhstan to break into the elite ranking category. It went from No. 25 to No. 10.
Rybakina’s journey into the top 10 saw her reach the Portoroz final and Ostrava semi-finals last year, as well as reach the quarter-finals at the WTA 1000 Championships in Indian Wells and Cincinnati.
Teens in the top 100
This week’s top 100 players include four teens: Coco Gauff (No. 6), Linda Frohvertova (No. 51), Linda Noskova (No. 56) and Diana Schneider (No. 94).
Gauff, the highest-ranked teenager, has been ranked in the top 10 for 21 consecutive weeks and moved up one place to No. 6 after reaching the fourth round at the Australian Open. She is also second in the doubles rankings after reaching the semifinals in this discipline (together with Jessica Pegula).
Fruhvirtova, the youngest in the top 100 at 17, advanced to the fourth round at the Australian Open, her second Grand Slam main draw appearance. With his appearance in Week 2, the Czech jumped 31 places in the rankings from No. 82 to a career high, No. 51.
Noskova, despite losing in the opening round of qualifying at the Australian Open, equaled her career ranking this week at No. 56. The 18-year-old started the season by advancing to the final in Adelaide 1 via Qualifiers, losing in the championship match to the Australian Open champion Finally, Sabalenka.
PHOTOS: The top 100 achievers in 2023
Schneider debuted in the top 100 this week at No. 94 after making her main draw debut at the Australian Open to qualify. It was also Schneider’s first main draw at tour level, and he made an impact by reaching the second round and stretching Maria Sakkari to three sets.
Another notable jump in the ranking
Victoria Azarenka (+8, from No. 24 to No. 16): The two-time Australian Open champion reached the semi-final stage of the tournament for the first time since 2013 and climbed eight places to No. 16 – her highest ranking since last May. Azarenka, at 33, is the oldest woman in the top 20.
Karolina Pliskova (+11, from No. 31 to No. 20): The 30-year-old Pliskova, a quarter-finalist at the Australian Open, is back in the top 20 this week. The former world number one dropped out of the top 20 last October, but three months later he has quickly bounced back.
Donna Vecic (+31, from No. 64 to No. 33): The former world No. 19 player advanced to the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, tying her career-best Grand Slam result (she also reached QF at the 2019 US Open). Vekic moved up 31 places in this week’s rankings to No. 33.
Magda Lynette (+31, from No. 45 to No. 22): After reaching a Grand Slam semi-final in her 30th main draw slam debut, Lynette has moved up 31 places this week to No. 22.
Zhu Lin (+33, from No. 87 to No. 54): Among the top 100, the biggest climb after the Australian Open was Zhou Lin, who celebrated her 29th birthday last week. Playing in her 14th Grand Slam main draw, Zhou advanced to Week 2 for the first time in her career, earning 240 ranking points as she moved up 33 places this week to No. 54. She is now No. 3 in China, behind Zhang Shuai (No. 23) and Zheng Qinwen (No. 29).
More noteworthy moves
Ekaterina Alexandrova (No. 19) and Anhelina Kalinina (No. 31) joins Linette and Rybakina as the top 50 players to reach the best rankings of their careers this week.
Katerina Sinyakova She maintained her hold on the world No. 1 doubles ranking after teaming with Barbora Krejkova to successfully defend her Australian Open title. Siniakova held the No. 1 doubles ranking for 83 weeks, while Krejcikova was No. 3.
Katie Volentis She joins Schneider in making her top 100 appearances this week. The 21-year-old American jumped 17 places from No. 113 to No. 96 after recording her first top-10 victory over Veronika Kudermetova to reach the third round of the Australian Open as a qualifier. Volinets and Sneijder join Kristina Buxa and Rebecca Masarova as players to crack the top 100 for the first time this season.
Laura Sigmund He was the lowest-ranked player to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open. The former world No. 27 German, who was on the way back after knee surgery, returned to the second week of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time since Roland Garros 2020 and moved up 33 places from No. 158 to No. 125.