WTA Race Update: Elena Rybakina still leads Jessica Pegula as Bucsa, Stearns and Paolini in huge rises

Tuesday, 03 March 2026 at 13:30

The WTA Race has been updated for the latest week as we continue on to Indian Wells, the next big barometer on the season with it being known as the fifth Grand Slam unofficially for good reason.

All of the top names will be there, and it is a similar complexion in the WTA than the ATP in regards to, in this case, being one standout name. In men's tennis, it is Carlos Alcaraz. In women's tennis, it is Elena Rybakina in terms of prize money and also the race to Riyadh.

While Rybakina is not in contention yet for World No.1 in the main WTA Rankings, she is certainly the best player on tour this year based on other metrics, and she leads Jessica Pegula, who has also been superb this season, going into Indian Wells. Pegula and Svitolina jumped this past week after their superb Dubai run and now sit in the top three, usurping Aryna Sabalenka, who is fourth.

Others in the top 10 aren't a surprise either, with Victoria Mboko, Karolina Muchova, Mirra Andreeva, Coco Gauff, Amanda Anisimova, and Iva Jovic, who have all had sustained periods of form at times since the start of 2026, pulling up the top 10 with the top eight qualifying for Riyadh in November.

Stearns, Bucsa and Paolini rise

But given we saw action all over the WTA spectrum this past week with titles won by Cristina Bucsa and Peyton Stearns, it also offers a great glimpse into other names who have surged this week and could either find themselves in contention or fade away again by the time the Sunshine Double is complete.

Among those is Bucsa, who is now up to 13th in these rankings towards Riyadh. She went up 44 spots in a single week after winning in Merida and could easily get into the top 10 if she has a good week in California. Peyton Stearns famously said that a Longhorn should win the Austin trophy, and she fulfilled her Texas promise in a bit of a full-circle moment for the Ohio native who went to college in Texas.

Peyton Stearns, the champion in Austin.

She went up 17 spots to 26th in the race, and it was Jasmine Paolini who also had a great week after playing in Merida. She has been in contention and played in recent years in the finals, and she is up to 34th. Still a long way to go, but a lot better than 73rd, that is for sure.

Magdalena Frech also reached the top 20 going from 51st up 31 spots since the last update. Rebecca Sramkova, Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, and Marina Stakusic also joined the top 100 for the first time this week.

Note that the WTA Race only counts points earned from January 1, 2026, determining who qualifies for the year-end WTA Finals in Riyadh.

WTA Race as of 3/3/26

#	Player	Age	Country	Pts
1	Elena Rybakina	26	KAZ	2453
2	Jessica Pegula	32	USA	1985
3	Elina Svitolina	31	UKR	1810
4	Aryna Sabalenka	27	BLR	1810
5	Victoria Mboko	19	CAN	1507
6	Karolína Muchová	29	CZE	1445
7	Mirra Andreeva	18	RUS	1193
8	Coco Gauff	21	USA	990
9	Amanda Anisimova	24	USA	900
10	Iva Jovic	18	USA	851
11	Iga Świątek	24	POL	805
12	Belinda Bencic	28	SUI	754
13	Cristina Bucșa	28	ESP	736
14	Sára Bejlek	20	CZE	630
15	Kimberly Birrell	27	AUS	623
16	Elisabetta Cocciaretto	25	ITA	603
17	Sorana Cîrstea	35	ROU	589
18	Elise Mertens	30	BEL	585
19	Janice Tjen	23	INA	578
20	Magdalena Fręch	28	POL	572
21	Anna Kalinskaya	27	RUS	566
22	Xinyu Wang	24	CHN	563
23	Clara Tauson	23	DEN	562
24	Maria Sakkari	30	GRE	561
25	Jeļena Ostapenko	28	LAT	542
26	Peyton Stearns	24	USA	516
27	Magda Linette	34	POL	493
28	Alexandra Eala	20	PHI	481
29	Diana Shnaider	21	RUS	470
30	Madison Keys	31	USA	466
31	Yulia Putintseva	31	KAZ	435
32	Ekaterina Alexandrova	31	RUS	426
33	Katie Boulter	29	GBR	419
34	Jasmine Paolini	30	ITA	387
35	Hailey Baptiste	24	USA	357
36	Zeynep Sönmez	23	TUR	352
37	Marta Kostyuk	23	UKR	345
38	Antonia Ružić	23	CRO	339
39	Shuai Zhang	37	CHN	332
40	Linda Nosková	21	CZE	330
41	Varvara Gracheva	25	FRA	327
42	Tereza Valentová	19	CZE	323
43	Emma Raducanu	23	GBR	318
44	Jaqueline Cristian	27	ROU	314
45	Marie Bouzková	27	CZE	313
46	Maddison Inglis	28	AUS	300
47	Alycia Parks	25	USA	299
48	Nikola Bartůňková	20	CZE	293
49	Anna Blinkova	27	RUS	274
50	Emma Navarro	24	USA	261
51	Daria Kasatkina	28	AUS	257
52	Sonay Kartal	24	GBR	257
53	Ludmilla Samsonova	27	RUS	257
54	Ajla Tomljanović	32	AUS	256
55	Leylah Fernandez	23	CAN	255
56	Karolína Plíšková	33	CZE	251
57	Maya Joint	19	AUS	248
58	Tamara Korpatsch	30	GER	247
59	Ann Li	25	USA	243
60	Anastasia Potapova	24	AUT	242
61	Oksana Selekhmeteva	23	RUS	238
62	Anastasia Zakharova	24	RUS	236
63	Camila Osorio	24	COL	233
64	Aliaksandra Sasnovich	31	BLR	233
65	Kateřina Siniaková	29	CZE	228
66	Linda Fruhvirtová	20	CZE	226
67	Anna Bondár	28	HUN	222
68	Elena-Gabriela Ruse	28	ROU	221
69	Mccartney Kessler	26	USA	221
70	Dayana Yastremska	25	UKR	217
71	Lilli Tagger	18	AUT	215
72	Storm Hunter	31	AUS	214
73	Taylor Townsend	29	USA	213
74	Ella Seidel	21	GER	208
75	Paula Badosa	28	ESP	207
76	Ashlyn Krueger	21	USA	181
77	Taylah Preston	20	AUS	181
78	Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva	20	AND	175
79	Naomi Osaka	28	JPN	172
80	Katie Volynets	24	USA	170
81	Priscilla Hon	27	AUS	169
82	Barbora Krejčíková	30	CZE	166
83	Zhuoxuan Bai	23	CHN	164
84	Yue Yuan	27	CHN	163
85	Lanlana Tararudee	21	THA	158
86	Caty McNally	24	USA	154
87	Olga Danilović	25	SRB	154
88	Diane Parry	23	FRA	151
89	Daria Snigur	23	UKR	146
90	Viktorija Golubic	33	SUI	141
91	Rebecca Šramková	29	SVK	138
92	Moyuka Uchijima	24	JPN	133
93	Himeno Sakatsume	24	JPN	133
94	Jéssica Bouzas Maneiro	23	ESP	133
95	Qinwen Zheng	23	CHN	130
96	Rebeka Masarova	26	SUI	127
97	Petra Marčinko	20	CRO	125
98	Emiliana Arango	25	COL	123
99	Marina Stakusic	21	CAN	120
100	Dominika Šálková	21	CZE	119

Samuel GillEditor-in-Chief

Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.

Based in Leicester, Samuel has a broad background in tennis media. In his current role, he works closely with editors and writers to ensure coverage meets clear journalistic standards, with particular attention to verification, consistency, and timely updates when new information becomes available.

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