With the 2024 Australian Open heading towards the business end, there are some winners and some losers when it comes to the WTA Ranking when it is updated at the start of next week with Coco Gauff in particular being a winner alongside Linda Noskova and Mirra Andreeva.
Coco Gauff started the tournament with 6,580 points and is set to break the 7,000 point barrier to go onto 7,200 points which is only 135 points adrift of Aryna Sabalenka who is the current World No.2 and she is defending her winners money. A likely World No.2 showdown awaits in the semi-finals with the victor taking that ranking.
While for Iga Swiatek, it is more of an easy ride as despite losing early to Linda Noskova, her poor form prior at the Australian Open means that she will maintain a comfortable lead. She started the tournament with a 975 point advantage and that could get cut or could rise exponentially depending on Sabalenka winning the title. Elena Rybakina will fall two spots also after her early exit, while Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula will move up.
In terms of the ranking winners so far, Qinwen Zheng who has already booked her spot in the Quarter-Final and is the favourite to get out of her quarter to a potential final at this point will move to a new career high of World No.11 and could breach the top 10 by reaching the semi-final or final at least.
Elina Svitolina will return to the top 20 for the first time since March 2022 as she is set to climb four places to World No.19. One of the main winners of 2023 with an incredible comeback, she will benefit once more despite retiring from the tournament due to a crippling back injury.
The player that benefited was Linda Noskova who will rise at least 21 places to World No.29 and if she reaches the semi-final, she will head towards the top 20. While Mirra Andreeva will continue to rise also with a similar trajectory to the return of Svitolina in 2023, she will move up to World No.34.
As Anna Kalinskaya will climb into the top 50 for the first time after her run. She sits currently in World No.37. Dayana Yastremska similarly albeit after a previous high of World No.21, she is set for a 50 place ranking rise up to World No.43. Maria Timofeeva will crack the top 100 for the first time also.
But while there are winners, there are also losers as Victoria Azarenka despite reaching the latter stages was defending her run from last year and so will drop down to World No.32 and out of the top 20. Magda Linette drops out of the top 50 and is a sharp faller with 32 spots down, while Camila Giorgi is on the verge of falling out of the top 70.
But it is perhaps Karolina Pliskova's sharp decline which is one of the biggest as after reaching the Quarter-Final last year and losing out to Rybakina in Round One this year, she will drop 39 spots to World Number 77 as a result.
Live WTA Ranking of the five players still alive in the top half of the Australian Open draw 13. Qinwen Zheng (#11 if she beats Dodin) 29. Linda Noskova (+21) 37. Anna Kalinskaya (+38) 43. Dayana Yastremska (+50) 75. Oceane Dodin (#57 if she beats Qinwen)
