The question: How soon can newly-crowned French Open champion Coco Gauff challenge for the No. 1 spot in the PIF WTA rankings? The answer: Realistically, not anytime soon, but maybe.
Gauff solidified her hold on the No. 2 spot in the world rankings with her triumph in Paris but is still far behind No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, the Roland Garros runner-up.
Sabalenka has a lead of more than 3,000 points in the world rankings – the equivalent of a major title plus a first-place finish at a WTA 1000 event. Sabalenka also didn’t play Wimbledon in 2024, so she likely will stockpile even more ranking points during the grass-court season.
Can Coco Gauff reach Aryna Sabalenka atop the WTA rankings?
Gauff likely would need to sweep the remaining majors in 2025 and see Sabalenka endure a lengthy slump before she could challenge for the top spot. Sabalenka started her 41st week at No. 1 on June 9, the 14th-best total of all time.
Who moved up the WTA rankings during the clay-court season?
Jessica Pegula (No. 3), Jasmine Paolini (No. 4), and Mirra Andreeva (No. 6) achieved new career-high rankings by the end of the French Open.
Lois Boisson, the home country’s fan favorite at the French Open, zoomed up from outside the top 300 to No. 65 after reaching the Roland Garros semifinals as a wild-card entrant.
American Hailey Baptiste and American-born Australian teen Maya Joint made the biggest moves within the top 100. Baptiste jumped from No. 90 at the start of the clay-court season to No. 58, highlighted by a run to the round of 16 at the French Open. Joint, 19, moved from No. 81 at the start of the clay court season to No. 51 on the strength of her title at the WTA 250 event in Rabat, Morocco.
Who moved down?
Iga Swiatek entered the clay court season as the No. 2 player in the world and in search of her fourth consecutive French Open title. Her quest for a French Open four-peat ended in the semifinals, and she fell to No. 7 in the rankings after inconsistent results throughout the spring.
Former Wimbledon winner Marketa Vondrousova did well to reach the round of 32 at the French Open after missing multiple months due to injury, but that solid result was not enough to prevent a slide from No. 49 at the start of the clay court season to No. 165.
Who’s about to rise?
Almost any player who puts together a strong summer on the lawns will get a big rankings boost, as most of the top players aren’t defending many ranking points from the 2024 grass-court season.
Keep an eye on No. 8 Madison Keys, who has shown some proficiency on grass courts in the past. Keys could solidify a spot in the top five with a good Wimbledon. If current No. 23 Clara Tauson can adapt her game to the lawns, she could climb into the top 15.
Who could fall?
Current No. 17 Barbora Krejcikova is defending not only her Wimbledon title but also most of her ranking points. Even if she “only” makes the semifinals, she’ll drop out of the top 30. An early exit at the All-England Club would drop her out of the top 70.
Jasmine Paolini, the 2024 Wimbledon finalist and current No. 4, needs to avoid an early-round exit. An upset loss in the first round or two could drop her out of the top 10.
40 years ago this happened
This week in 1985, Chris Evert ended Martina Navratilova’s then-record streak of 156 weeks at No. 1. Evert defeated Navratilova in a thrilling three-set French Open final to claim the top spot. At the time, Evert, then 30, was the oldest player to reach No. 1.