WTA Rankings Update: Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek drop chunk of points due to missed mandatory penalty

The WTA Rankings have been updated for yet another week ahead of the final update of the season post the WTA Finals and for Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek, they have neither played or had to defend any points but continue to have points taken off due to mandatory points penalties.

Players are required to play at least six WTA 500 tournaments every season unless they are injured or have a valid reason why they are not playing sadi tournaments. But if they fail to adhere to this rule, they are handed zero pointers. Those who break this rule will see the points they gained in over bigger events sat on zero. Sabalenka dropped only 10 points last week while Swiatek lost 65.

But the punishment was a lot more harsher this week with Sabalenka losing 120 points from Dubai this time around, while Swiatek's Stuttgart run of 108 points were rendered null and void. Albeit of course they stay one and two in the rankings and also Sabalenka is still by some way the World Number One for now.

Gauff didn't receive any penalty as often the American like Anisimova who did lose some points does play these events so it is less of a ranking chunk for them. The latter lost only 27 points. Keys who has sat out for most of the year post Australian Open was also hit with a 60 point deduction.

On top of this, players also dropped the points they won from the WTA Finals. So Coco Gauff is down 1,300 points as she is defending champion, Sabalenka drops another 400 so does Swiatek. So now Sabalenka is on 9,870, Swiatek 8,195 and Gauff down on 6,563. This also means feasibly Anisimova is top three bound at some points if she has another big run.

But it also means that Sabalenka for once won't have to battle for the Year End No.1 in any way. The WTA Finals is the only tournament left and players can earn a maximum of 1,500 points. So she can't be passed even if she goes out early until the Australian Open. Anisimova needs to reach at least the semi-final to stand any chance of overtaking the French Open champion.

Pegula would have to win the tournament undefeated and Gauff would have to exit at the group stage without winning any matches as players earn 200 points for a win.

Elena Rybakina is the main mover in the top ten too. She goes up again after reaching the semi-finals in Tokyo. While Madison Keys slides up with Jasmine Paolini falling two. Belinda Bencic is all but top 10 bound as she sits just behind Ekaterina Alexandrova in 11th. While Linda Noskova again rises to World No.13 after losing to Bencic in the final.

Other movers and shakers include Samsonova and Shnaider who go up to World No.17 and 18 respectively up a spot each. While Karolina Muchova is up two spots and ends the year inside the top 20. Victoria Mboko is now Canadian Number One again usurping Leylah Fernandez to sit in World No.21 just ahead of her.

Zheng Qinwen who had such a good end to the year in 2024 continues to fall and loses her final points from Riyadh. She is now in World No.24 dropping 13 spots in a week. Sofia Kenin despite reaching the latter stages too in Tokyo is also down three spots to World No.28.

Ann Li won Guangzhou and also rises up to World No.33 just behind Maya Joint. Anna Kalinskaya continues to get back to some semblance of her old form and ranking as she goes up to World No.35 with Iva Jovic next in 36th and Daria Kasatkina in 38th around her dropping three spots each.

Speaking of falling, Barbora Krejcikova played the WTA Finals last year and has dropped 28 spots in a week down to World No.64 as a torrid season ends for her. Olga Danilovic too is down 21 spots to World No.70 deciding not to defend her Chennai title.

Lulu Sun in reality is the big winner lower down reaching the final of the Guangzhou Open losing to Li but she is back in the top 100 and sits in 88th going up 28 spots in a week. Ella Seidel is also a big winner going up six spots to World No.90. She has performed well the past few weeks and is one to keep an eye on.