WTA Race Update: Belinda Bencic leads after United Cup heroics as Sabalenka trails closely

After the first week of competition, the WTA Race is already taking shape and has a new leader to kick off the season: none other than Swiss Belinda Bencic – who not only returned to the WTA Top 10 but also claimed the top spot in the Race.

The Race tracks points earned exclusively in the calendar year (2026), unlike the Ranking, which considers the last 52 weeks of competition. At the end of the year, it will determine the eight qualifiers for the WTA Finals as well as the year-end rankings for the rest of the players on tour.

Bencic’s strong campaign at the United Cup – winning all five of her singles matches – earned her a total of 554 points, allowing her to quickly rise to the top. She is just slightly ahead of Aryna Sabalenka (500), the Brisbane International champion for the second consecutive year, who held onto a top position in the Race for much of 2025.

Third place goes to Canadian Victoria Mboko, who was eliminated in the second round of the Adelaide International but carried over points from her title at the Hong Kong Open at the end of 2025. Since the Hong Kong tournament took place after the 2025 Race concluded, those points count toward this year’s Race.

Also comfortably placed is Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk in fourth, coming off a runner-up finish in Brisbane. She added a solid 325 points to the Race, which will benefit her early in the year as she aims to climb higher in the rankings and break deeper into the Top 20. Kostyuk secured three consecutive wins over top-10 players, signaling that she may be ready to take a major step forward in her career this year.

Including the points carried over from the end of 2025, several names quickly found themselves in the upper echelons of the Race. Among them are Janice Tjen and Anna Blinkova, tied for fifth with 252 points. The Indonesian Tjen earned points from her title at the Maharashtra Challenger last year, while Blinkova captured the Jiangxi title. Both, however, began their respective Australian swing campaigns with early losses.

Seventh place belongs to Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina (250), who won the ASB Classic last week. The experienced former World No. 3 defeated rivals such as Katie Boulter, Sonay Kartal, and Iva Jovic en route to the final, where she overcame Xinyu Wang in straight sets. Svitolina claimed the 19th title of her career, moving a step closer to a potential return to the Top 10, while remaining No. 12 in the rankings based on the last 52 weeks.

Rounding out the Top 10 are Kimberly Birrell – finalist at the Maharashtra Challenger and second-round exit in Brisbane – as well as Brisbane semifinalists Jessica Pegula and Karolina Muchova, who added 195 points thanks to their deep runs in the first tournament of the year, securing their spots in the Top 10.

Further down, notable names seen at the United Cup include Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek, and Elise Mertens, tied for 14th with 150 points each following three wins apiece in the mixed-nations event. Other top-ranked players include Anna Kalinskaya (No. 17), Alexandra Eala (No. 19), Mirra Andreeva (No. 22), and Elena Rybakina (No. 25).