No Grand Slams, no party: Aryna Sabalenka loses top spot in alternative rankings

Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka is having a tough year. It is hard to say that for a player who has suffered just nine defeats in 56 matches in 2025. However, Sabalenka will also admit that the last seven months have been far from perfect.

Sabalenka has featured in 12 competitions in 2025 but has won only three of them. That is a low return for a player who has featured in the semifinals on nine occasions. In January, Sabalenka lifted the Brisbane International after beating Polina Kudermetova in the final with a score of 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. In March, the top-ranked player in the WTA rankings lifted the Miami Open after beating America’s Jessica Pegula in the final in straight sets with a score of 7-5, 6-2. Sabalenka’s last title came in April, where she defeated America’s Coco Gauff in the final in Madrid with a score of 6-3, 7-6.

Three titles for any player in 12 months would have been great, but for Sabalenka, it has been a different story. Since the start of 2025, Sabalenka has lost four finals as well. Two of those came in the final of the Grand Slams. At the Australian Open, Sabalenka fell short in her title defence as she lost to America’s Madison Keys in the final with a score of 6-3, 2-6, 7-5. At the French Open, Sabalenka came second-best to Gauff, who came out on top with a score of 6-7, 6-2, 6-4.

Those performances have not impacted Sabalenka’s place in the WTA rankings, but it has affected her position in the alternative UTR rankings. America’s Gauff has managed to overtake Sabalenka in the updated UTR rankings. The UTR rankings work in a different manner compared to the WTA rankings. Unlike the WTA rankings, where the algorithm works according to a player’s performance based on a 52-week pattern, the UTR ranking is based on current performances and showcases players' recent form.

In the UTR rankings, beating a top-ranked player also gives more points. It seems that Gauff’s win in the final of the French Open played a key role in her taking over Sabalenka in the updated UTR rankings. Sabalenka’s most recent outing was at Wimbledon, where she suffered a surprising defeat in the semifinal to America’s Amanda Anisimova with a score of 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. Since then, Sabalenka has not played any tennis and will be returning to action at the Cincinnati Open.

On the other hand, Gauff is currently playing at the Canadian Open, where she has already cemented her spot in the fourth round after beating Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova with a score of 4-6, 7-5, 6-2. Gauff will be hoping to extend her run in the competition and extend her lead at the top in the UTR rankings over Sabalenka, but for that to happen, she will have to improve her service. In the first two matches of the Canadian Open, Gauff has committed 37 double faults, the most by any player. Talking about that ahead of the fourth-round clash against Canada’s Victoria Mboko, Gauff admitted that she is keen to improve those numbers substantially.

"Obviously, I'm very disappointed with myself regarding that part of the game just because I didn't play in Washington to work on it, make changes, and do well in training, where I was serving very well, so I would like that to transfer to the match,” she said. “The positive is that I'm winning these matches literally having a part of my game on crutches. It's as if I could lean on both feet, then I can only imagine it would be much easier and much simpler for me. There are two things I can take from it. I don't want to lead that statistic, and I want to improve. I know I'll probably never be free of double faults, but if I could reduce it to 2% or 3%, that would make a big difference and would make these matches much easier. The fact that I'm winning matches and finding ways to win with that is undoubtedly a positive thing."