Sabalenka close in on maiden year-end WTA No.1

The final WTA 1000 event of 2024 took place last week, with the Hologic WTA Tour returning to Wuhan for the first time since 2019. Top seed Aryna Sabalenka picked up where she left off, adding to her 2018 and 2019 titles to successfully pull off the three-peat, beating home hope Zheng Qinwen in the final.

Sabalenka and Zheng hold their positions at No.2 and No.7, respectively, in this week’s edition of the PIF WTA Rankings. However, Sabalenka is now only 69 points behind No.1 Iga Swiatek, meaning the year-end No.1 ranking will be on the line at the WTA Finals Riyadh in three weeks’ time.

Coco Gauff moves up one to No.3 after the Beijing champion extended her winning streak to nine by reaching the Wuhan semifinals. Meanwhile, Beatriz Haddad Maia climbs two to No.10 after making the final 16 in Wuhan and returning to the Top 10 for the first time since June 2023. Anna Kalinskaya, who made the second round of Wuhan, inches up one to a new career high of No.12.

Surprise unseeded semifinalist Wang Xinyu, who upset Jessica Pegula to make the last four of a WTA 1000 event for the first time, jumps 12 spots to No.39 — seven spots off the career high of No.32 she set in October 2023.

With impressive wins last week, Magdalena Frech, Hailey Baptiste and Olga Danilovic all reached new career highs. Frech reached the first WTA 1000 quarterfinal of her career in Wuhan and moves up three to No.24 to enter the Top 25 for the first time. Frech, who won her first WTA title in Guadalara last month, has won 10 of her past 12 matches.

Baptiste posted the first Top 10 of her career, upsetting Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova in the second round of Wuhan, and climbs 22 places to No.80.

Meanwhile, Danilovic claimed the Cornellà de Llobregat ITF W100 title in Spain without dropping a set and jumps 17 spots to No.86. Danilovic first cracked the Top 100 in September 2018 and reached her previous peak of No.93 in June 2023.