10 years ago they ruled the WTA — what happened to the top 10?

Ten years ago, Serena Williams was world No. 1, Venus Williams was still inside the top six and five of the players in the WTA top 10 would go on to win Grand Slam titles. Today, most of that group have retired, while only a handful remain active on Tour.

A decade later, the contrast is striking. Most of the players who occupied the top of the rankings in the summer of 2016 have already retired, while the few who remain active are in the final chapters of their careers. Here's what the WTA top 10 looked like on this same date 10 years ago.

Serena Williams was positioned as world No. 1 at the start of the hard-court swing, just a few weeks away from equalling Steffi Graf's record of 186 consecutive weeks as the leader of the WTA rankings. Earlier in the season, the American had seen her streak of eight consecutive Grand Slam finals won (between 2012 and 2015) come to an end after losing the finals of the Australian Open and Roland Garros. She had also won the titles in Rome and Wimbledon.

However, the final months of the season were heavily affected by injuries. After winning Wimbledon, she only played the Olympic Games (losing in the third round to Elina Svitolina) and the US Open (losing in the semifinals to Karolína Plíšková). She eventually matched Graf's record of 186 weeks, but it was the last time Serena held the world No. 1 ranking.

2016: No. 1

2017: Australian Open champion while pregnant

2018-19: Returned and reached four more Grand Slam finals

2022: Retired from tennis

2026: Returns to action

The German was the player who ended Serena's reign at the top of the WTA rankings, doing so after winning the US Open title to add to her Australian Open triumph earlier in the season and her Wimbledon final during the European summer. It was the best season of Kerber's career, and she eventually claimed the world No. 1 ranking after finishing the year with three titles and five runner-up finishes.

The Spaniard was already threatening to take another step forward in the WTA rankings after winning her first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros 2016. She remained inside the top five throughout the season and gradually established herself as a genuine contender for the world No. 1 ranking — something she ultimately achieved a year later after winning Wimbledon 2017.

The Romanian had already spent several years as one of the main contenders for major titles, and in 2016 she climbed into the top three after winning the Canadian Open title — her second WTA 1000 trophy of the season and the fifth of her career. She was still searching for a Grand Slam breakthrough, but her remarkable consistency over the previous 52 weeks — including three titles and two additional WTA 1000 finals — kept her inside the top four for a third consecutive year.

2016: World No. 3

2018: Roland Garros champion

2019: Wimbledon champion

2022: World No. 1 again / major career controversy follows

2024: Returned after suspension

2025: Retired

The Polish star was 28 years old and had already spent several seasons shining inside the top 10. After runs to the semifinals of the Australian Open, Dubai and Indian Wells, she alternated those strong performances with early exits at several of the biggest tournaments. A large portion of her ranking points still came from the end of 2015, when she won three titles, including the WTA Finals.

Radwańska remained inside the top five and produced solid results late in the season, finishing the year in the top 10 for the eighth time in her career and the sixth consecutive season. It was the last year in which we saw the Polish star at her highest level before she retired in 2018 at just 29 years old. At just 29, Radwańska walked away from professional tennis.

What happened after? Retired in 2018 at just 29 — former world No. 2

By 2016, Venus Williams was the oldest player in the top 10. At 36 years old and with seven Grand Slam titles already on her résumé, she remained highly competitive even though she seemed well past her peak years. She produced an incredible run to the Wimbledon semifinals, her best result at a Grand Slam tournament since reaching the 2009 final.

However, the American had already begun limiting her schedule, and her reduced number of tournament appearances caused her ranking to drop during the following weeks. She won the final title of her career at the Taiwan Open in February 2016 — the 49th trophy of her professional career. Albeit ten years later, Venus Williams is still competing.

What happened after? Still competing — the only player from the top six who remains active

By 2016, Azarenka was dealing with a ranking decline after spending time away from the courts. Earlier that year, she became only the third player in history to complete the Sunshine Double by winning Indian Wells and the Miami Open in consecutive weeks, but her season was cut short by injuries.

In the middle of the season, she announced her pregnancy and missed the remainder of the year, meaning that by August 2016 the Belarusian had already ended her season and would not return to competition until the middle of 2017. Her future is currently uncertain. She hasn't played in over a year and like Svetlana Kuznetsova, she never formerly announced she has retired.

What happened? Status unknown but still active as such.

The legendary Italian player was not having a particularly strong 2016 season, but her run to the 2015 US Open final was still keeping her inside the top 10. She had also won the St. Petersburg Ladies Open title earlier that season. At the beginning of the hard-court swing, she remained among the top-ranked players, but she was unable to build momentum during the following months and eventually dropped to world No. 18 by the end of the season. A year earlier, Vinci had produced one of the biggest shocks in US Open history. Ten years later, she has been retired for almost a decade.

What happened? Retired in 2018 — her final Grand Slam was the 2017 US Open

The American was emerging as the new talent of her country, and at just 21 years old she climbed into the top 10 for the first time in her career, reaching her first WTA 1000 finals at the Rome Open and the Canadian Open. She also reached the fourth round at all four Grand Slams of the season, finished fourth at the Summer Olympic Games, and won a WTA 500 title at the Birmingham Open — the second title of her career.

Alongside the Williams sisters, she is one of the players from that top 10 who is still active — and the only one who remains fully active on the Tour, currently ranked world No. 24. Just one month ago she added another title at the Eastbourne Open, showing that she is still a force on the WTA Tour at this stage of her career. She is also a Grand Slam champion winning the Australian Open.

What happened? Still active and now a Grand Slam champion.

A historic name on the WTA Tour, Kuznetsova had enjoyed the best years of her career a decade earlier, winning her first Grand Slam title at the 2004 US Open, but she remained competitive even after turning 31.

The two-time major champion produced her final great run in 2016 and returned to the top 10 after six years away, largely thanks to two WTA 500 titles and a run to the final of the Miami Open, where she lost to Victoria Azarenka.

2016: Returned to top 10 at age 31

Afterwards: Ranking declined

Final years: Struggled with injuries / limited competition

2026: Retired

Most dramatic rise: Kerber

Most surprising retirement: Radwańska

Longest career: Venus

Still competing at the highest level: Keys

Most decorated after 2016: Serena / Halep / Muguruza