Mark it down now. History says newly crowned French Open champion Mirra Andreeva will reach the No. 1 ranking at some point in her career.
With her triumph in Paris, Andreeva became the 17th women’s player in the Open era to claim a Grand Slam title before her 20th birthday. Ten of the previous 16 went on to claim the No. 1 ranking (and one would think Coco Gauff has a reasonable chance at becoming the 11th).
Ironically, Andreeva’s French Open win didn’t result in a significant boost to her current ranking. Andreeva entered the clay court season ranked seventh in the world. She rose just one spot to sixth with her win at Roland Garros. Andreeva is, however, the new No. 1 in the “Race to the WTA Finals” standings. If the 2026 season ended today, she'd be the No. 1 player.
Who moved up the WTA rankings after the French Open?
Aryna Sabalenka continues to hold the current No. 1 ranking, though her advantage over No. 2 Elena Rybakina shrank to a small enough margin that Rybakina could take over the top spot with a favorable combination of grass-court results.
Maja Chwalinska, Andreeva’s surprise foe in the French final, jumped all the way from No. 114 entering the Roland Garros to No. 21. Chwalinska was one win away from becoming the first qualifier to win the French Open.
And, talk about making the most of an opportunity. Anastasia Potapova got to the semifinals at the WTA 1000 event in Madrid after sneaking into the main draw as a lucky loser from qualifying. She won’t be playing qualifying again in the near future. She went on to win 14 of 18 main draw matches during the clay court season to rise from No. 94 to No. 27.
Who moved down?
Jasmine Paolini dropped out of the top 10 – from No. 8 to No. 14. She won just three total matches at the Italian and French Opens in 2026 after winning nine matches across the two events in 2025, resulting in a significant drop in ranking points.
Three familiar names fell out of the top 100 after first-round losses at the French Open - Qinwen Zheng (from No. 30 at the start of the clay-court season), Lois Boisson (from No. 39), and Sofia Kenin (No. 47).
Who’s about to rise?
The grass court season is short, and there are gaps in ranking points between the top players, so don’t expect any massive jumps within the top 20.
However, the margins are smaller as you move down the rankings, meaning almost any player outside the top 20 can jump into the top 20 with a big run at Wimbledon.
Who could fall?
Reigning Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek, 2025 runner-up Amanda Anisimova, and 2025 semifinalists Aryan Sabalenka and Belinda Bencic have the most grass-court points to defend. However, none will fall more than a few spots in the rankings if they suffer early exits at Wimbledon.
18 years ago this happened
This week in 2008, a Serbian player achieved the No. 1 ranking for the first time … and it wasn’t Novak Djokovic. Newly crowned French Open champion Ana Ivanovic seized the No. 1 ranking for what proved to be a nine-week reign.
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