WTA Rankings update: Aryna Sabalenka dethrones Iga Swiatek as the World No. 1, Ningbo Open champion Daria Kasatkina returns to the top 10

Aryna Sabalenka's year-long chase finally came to an end this week as she replaced Iga Swiatek atop the latest WTA rankings. Neither player was in action over the past week, which resulted in a penalty for both of them.

Players are mandated to participate in at least six WTA 500 tournaments this year. Swiatek competed in only two of them this season, while Sabalenka entered in four such events. As a result, zero-pointers were applied to their respective ranking totals.

Swiatek's total dropped from 9,785 to 9,665, while Sabalenka's tally reduced from 9,716 to 9,706, which pushed her to the top of the WTA rankings. This will be her ninth week atop the summit, having racked up her first eight weeks after last year's US Open until the end of the WTA Finals.

Neither player signed for this week's WTA 500 event in Tokyo, for which they'll incur another penalty in next week's rankings. The week after that, the points from the WTA Finals 2023 will be taken off their totals as well, which would leave Swiatek with 7,970 points and Sabalenka with 9,016 points.

Swiatek will need to defend her WTA Finals title without losing a single match to end the season as the top-ranked player for the third year in a row. However, she will also need Sabalenka to crash out in the group stage itself, preferably with only one win, or none at all, to her name.

The Belarusian, meanwhile, can end the year atop the summit for the first time if she wins at least two of her group stage matches, regardless of her rival's results. Daria Kasatkina's triumph at the Ningbo Open has pushed her back into the top 10 this week as she jumped two places to No. 9.

There's otherwise no movement in the region. Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula remain steady at No. 3 and No. 4, while Elena Rybakina and Jasmine Paolini follow them as No. 5 and No. 6. Zheng Qinwen and Emma Navarro are ranked No. 7 and No. 8 this week, and Beatriz Haddad Maia is at No. 10.

---

Teen star Mirra Andreeva continues to rise up in the WTA rankings

Mirra Andreeva at the Wuhan Open 2024. (Photo: Getty)

Andreeva finished as the runner-up to Kasatkina at the Ningbo Open. While she didn't hoist the winner's trophy, a new career high of No. 16 is a decent consolation prize. She led her compatriot 3-0 in the third set of the final but buckled as she got closer to the finish line, and lost the match.

Suzan Lamens won her maiden career title in Osaka and has now made her top 100 debut. She flew 37 spots to No. 88 in this week's WTA rankings as a result of her triumph.

Elina Avanesyan (No. 46), Rebecca Sramkova (No. 52), Moyuka Uchijima (No. 57), Kamilla Rakhimova (No. 61), and Sonay Kartal (No. 92) are the other players to secure new career highs in this week's WTA rankings.

To view the latest WTA rankings, click here.