WTA Race Update | Mirra Andreeva holds top spot as Sabalenka-Rybakina chase, Mboko injury reshapes Riyadh fight

Another week of the grass swing and Wimbledon is getting closer and closer. Just a few days away from its start. The WTA Race was updated after the latest week marked by Linda Noskova’s triumph at the Berlin Ladies Open final, defeating Jessica Pegula to lift another WTA 500 title in her career.

On the way, Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina were left behind — two players who were threatening to take the first place in the Race to Riyadh, but who missed their chance. In this way, Mirra Andreeva — without having competed so far on grass courts — remains in the first position of points earned this year.

Remember that the WTA Race exclusively considers points earned in the calendar year — that is, from the first week of 2026, unlike the WTA ranking, which takes the last 52 weeks of competition. The Race is key to defining the 8 players who will qualify for the WTA Finals and also the year-end rankings.

The dominant trio of Andreeva–Sabalenka–Rybakina maintains a wide distance from the rest and seem practically with one foot and a half in Riyadh — especially the Grand Slam champions this season: Andreeva and Rybakina.

They are comfortably followed by Elina Svitolina and Jessica Pegula, completing the top-5, although the positions that follow — from 6th to 15th — are separated by only a few points and the results of this grass swing will be crucial in defining who reaches Riyadh with chances.

While the top-3 is practically classified, the good campaigns of Pegula and Svitolina are still closely following them. The Ukrainian — who reaches 3,999 points — is almost 1,300 points behind the 6th place. This week she competes in Bad Homburg; only the title would allow her to catch Rybakina and take a place in the top-3, with a difference of barely one point.

In the same way, Pegula is in an intermediate zone. While she has almost 500 points of distance with Svitolina, she is more than 700 points behind 6th place Coco Gauff. For the 32-year-old, she has secured staying in the qualification zone for the WTA Finals even after Wimbledon, although a strong campaign at SW19 could put her in a firm position to practically secure qualification for the WTA Finals.

While the first five seem to be out of time to secure their qualification to Riyadh, the last three spots will be especially contested.

To Gauff are added two recent WTA 1000 champions: Marta Kostyuk (Madrid Open champion) and Karolina Muchova (Dubai Open champion). For now, these would be the names that would make it to Riyadh.

There was even good news due to the withdrawal of one of their main rivals. Canadian Victoria Mboko, who appears in 9th place and is closely chasing Muchova and Kostyuk, was recently injured and will not play the rest of the grass swing. She will lose an important chance to add points such as a Grand Slam, which could cost her dearly in the final part of the year if she wants to finish the season in the top-8.

The battle to stay close to the top-8 — or at least the top-10 — intensifies among the following names. Sorana Cirstea — in her retirement year — appears as the 10th player with the most points earned this season. At this pace, she could even finish the season inside the top-10, which would be her absolute debut at such a high ranking.

Behind the Romanian is closely followed by Iga Swiatek, who despite not having outstanding results that we are used to, is once again outside the top-10. The Polish player has not yet won a title this year and Wimbledon will be her big chance to take a step forward and ensure that the WTA Finals qualification zone does not drift too far away. For now, more than 650 points separate her from returning to the top-8.

Behind Swiatek is Czech Linda Noskova after her notable campaign in Berlin. The 21-year-old Czech can be considered a name to watch at Wimbledon in a week, especially after showing consistency on serve and quietly putting her name back among the world’s best.

Others who remain in the higher zone include Iva Jovic, Diana Shnaider, Belinda Bencic, Maja Chwalinska and Anastasia Potapova.