She finished 2025 by winning the WTA Finals. She started 2026 by winning the first major of the new year. How soon can newly crowned Australian Open women’s champion Elena Rybakina challenge for the No. 1 ranking?
The answer: Not until Wimbledon at the earliest. And that’s if every ball bounces Rybakina’s way.
Aryna Sabalenka, runner-up to Rybakina at both the WTA Finals and the Australian Open, continues to hold a commanding lead atop the WTA rankings. Rybakina is back up to her career-best of No. 3.
Aryan Sabalenka is still a solid No. 1
Sabalenka has held the No. 1 spot for the last 67 weeks and counting, thanks to consistent deep runs at Grand Slams and strong results at other WTA Tour events. It adds up to a lead of about 4,000 ranking points over current No. 2 Iga Swiatek – the equivalent of two Grand Slam titles.
Rybakina has shown the ability to win Slams. She’s shown the ability to perform well on the tour. But, for various reasons, she’s never done both at the same time for an extended period.
Let’s imagine a best-case scenario for Rybakina in which she wins a spring WTA 1000 event or two, reaches the final in at least one more, and also outperforms Sabalenka at the French Open. That dream scenario would swing enough ranking points in Rybakina’s favor to allow her to contend for No. 1 this summer at Wimbledon.
In the meantime, Sabalenka is poised to add to her impressive run at No. 1. She’s up to 75 total weeks at the top spot, the 11th-best total of all time. Her run of consecutive weeks at No. 1 is 14th-best ever.
Who moved up the WTA rankings during the first month of 2026?
Surprise Australian Open quarterfinalist Iva Jovic was rewarded with a 15-spot jump since the start of 2026 to No. 20. Fellow teen sensation Victoria Mboko continued her rise, moving up five spots to No. 13 after reaching the Round of 16 in Melbourne. Xinyu Wang moved up 24 spots to No. 33 on the strength of a runner-up finish at the pre-Australian tune-up in Auckland, followed by a Round of 16 run at the Australian Open.
Who moved down?
Madison Keys made a respectable defense of her surprise 2025 Australian Open title, reaching the round of 16 before falling against Jessica Pegula, but still fell eight spots to No. 15. Paula Badosa’s points from her 2025 Australian semifinal appearance dropped off the computer, and her ranking dropped 40 spots to No. 65.
Who’s about to rise?
Jovic could make another big jump if she plays a full post-Australia hard-court schedule. She isn’t defending many ranking points, and she isn’t far behind the players immediately ahead of her in the rankings, meaning she could crack the top 15 in a couple of months. Another teen, No. 28 Maya Joint from Australia, also is poised for a quick jump with a few solid results.
Who could fall?
Current No. 16 Clara Tauson has been on a steady rise for the past three-plus years, but she now needs at least one strong event during the post-Australian hard-court season to keep her spot in the top 20.
31 years ago this happened
This week in 1995, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario became just the seventh player since the beginning of the women’s computer rankings to reach the No. 1 spot. Sanchez Vicario had won the French Open and the U.S. Open the previous year. Sanchez Vicario traded the top ranking back and forth with Steffi Graf through the first half of 1995. She accumulated 12 total weeks at No. 1.