WTA Rankings Update: Iga Swiatek overtakes Coco Gauff for number 2 spot, Aryna Sabalenka keeps world number 1

One more week in tennis sees the WTA Rankings update after the final major warm-up at the Cincinnati Open, with the women’s field now shifting their focus to the US Open. At the top is Aryna Sabalenka with 11,225 points, who failed to defend her Cincinnati Open title, falling to Elena Rybakina in the quarterfinals in a 1-6, 4-6 loss.

The Belarusian will now be looking forward to the final major of the year to defend her 2024 US Open championship and to go back-to-back. It will be especially important, seeing as she still has not won a Grand Slam this year and would definitely like to take one as a statement for the consistency she has displayed in 2025. Following closely behind is new world number 2 Iga Swiatek, who stunned everyone in Cincinnati to win her maiden title there without dropping a set.

Therefore, the Polish star rises up to world number 2 with 7,993 points and may fancy her chances to snatch that world number 1 spot heading into the US Open despite the 3,232 point difference. Though unlikely, once the US Open points from last year are removed, Sabalenka will have 9,225 points and Swiatek will have 7,573 points. Meaning if the world number one crashes out early in the US Open and Iga manages to win the title, we will have a change in the rankings for that top spot.

To avoid this from happening, Sabalenka will just need a quarterfinal finish at the US Open to completely stop Swiatek from stealing her number 1 ranking. Nevertheless, Swiatek still went up one place in the rankings overtaking Coco Gauff who fell down to third due to only managing a quarterfinal finish before losing to Jasmine Paolini in a match that ended 6-2, 4-6, 3-6 to the Italian.

The American may have seen a down turn in form after winning the French Open, but she should still be satisfied with her doubles form as she managed to clinch the women's doubles trophy at the Canadian Open with McCartney Kessler. Jessica Pegula and Mirra Andreeva round up the top 5 with 4,903 and 4,733 points respectively.

Looking at the rest of the top 10, Madison Keys is sixth with 4,699 points and a comfortable points cushion because of her Australian Open victory at the beginning of the year. Qinwen Zheng is seventh with 4,433 points however she will soon drop down the rankings as she is undergoing surgery on her elbow and has not stated when she will be back.

One other change in the rankings was Jasmine Paolini, who rose up to eighth in the rankings because of her successful Cincinnati Open, where she made it to the finals and now has 4,116 points. She takes the place of the fourth-highest American in the rankings and is now ninth in the world, Amanda Anisimova, who has 3,869 points. Closing out the top 10 is former Wimbledon champion and recent Cincinnati semifinalist Elena Rybakina, who fell to the eventual champion, Iga Swiatek.

Some of the biggest risers in the WTA Rankings this week were a few of the successors in Cincinnati. An example of this was Varvara Gracheva, who went through the qualifying of the Cincinnati Open and made it all the way into the quarterfinals of the tournament before falling to Veronika Kudermetova in a 1-6, 2-6 loss. The Frenchwoman is now back in the WTA top 100 and went from 103 in the world to world number 83.  

The previously aforementioned Veronika Kudermetova also saw a ten place jump in the rankings as she made it into the semifinals of the tournament in Ohio. Originally number 36 in the world, the Russian is now 26th.

Of course, while some of the biggest WTA stars rise, some experienced a bit of a fall in the rankings. Elina Avanesyan saw the largest drop within the top 100, falling 26 places to world number 96 as she has been injured and unable to defend any of her North American hard-court swing points from 2024.

Additionally, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova also saw a dip in the rankings as she lost in the second round of Cincinnati and was unable to replicate her quarterfinal feat from last year. She has fallen 11 spots in the WTA rankings, down to world number 44.

With just days to go before the US Open, the WTA landscape looks more open than ever. Sabalenka still controls the No. 1 ranking, but her cushion is not untouchable, and Swiatek arrives in New York riding fresh momentum after her flawless Cincinnati run. Add in Gauff’s home-court advantage, Paolini’s breakthrough form, and Rybakina’s steady presence, and the women’s draw promises both unpredictability and high drama. For those chasing history, points, or redemption, Flushing Meadows will be the stage where 2025’s defining stories are written.