January 28, 2025
Madison Keys’ breakthrough at the 2025 Australian Open cemented her place among the sport’s elite. With consecutive wins over World No.2 Iga Swiatek and World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka, she captured her first Grand Slam title.
Her run sparked a surge in the PIF WTA Rankings, where she jumped seven spots from No.14 to No.7. It’s her first time back in the Top 10 since January 2023, equaling the career-high she set in October 2016.
Ahead of making crucial changes to her racquet and service motion, Keys was asked by husband and coach Bjorn Fratangelo whether she was content to be a “No.11 to No.25” player. Despite over a decade of high-level accomplishments — the Australian Open marked Keys’ 10th career title, all but one at WTA 500 level or above, and her seventh major semifinal — her ranking has rarely matched her peak form.
Keys first cracked the Top 10 in June 2016 and mostly remained there until April 2017. But between that month and this week, she spent just seven weeks in total inside the Top 10. Now, Keys is on a 12-match winning streak — the longest of her career — and has the opportunity to bolster those numbers over the coming months.
Badosa, Pavlyuchenkova, Bencic boosted by Australian Open runs
Eight months ago, Paula Badosa was ranked No.140 and struggling to regain form following a back injury that sidelined her for the second half of 2023. But consistently strong performances earned her the Comeback Player of the Year award at the end of 2024, and after two previous quarterfinal losses, she reached her first Grand Slam semifinal last week at the Australian Open. The former No.2 climbs two places to No.10, returning to the Top 10 for the first time since October 2022.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal in 2011. Fourteen years later, she’s still got it. The 33-year-old made her ninth major quarterfinal, and fourth at the Australian Open, last week, and jumps nine places to No.23.
Former No.4 Belinda Bencic returned from maternity leave last October, testing the waters at ITF and WTA 125 level before the main tour. Her gradual approach paid off. In the first major of her comeback, the 27-year-old made the Australian Open fourth round. She moves up 137 places from No.294 to No.157.
Putintseva, Danilovic, Krueger, Lys hit career milestones
Three weeks after turning 30 years old, Yulia Putintseva can celebrate with her Top 20 debut. She reached the Australian Open third round and is up three spots to No.20 this week. Putintseva is the second Kazakhstani player to break the Top 20 following Elena Rybakina.
Olga Danilovic scored the third Top 10 win of her career (over Jessica Pegula in the third round) and reached her second Grand Slam fourth round in the past eight months at the Australian Open. The 24-year-old climbs 14 places to No.41, making her Top 50 debut. Danilovic is the fifth player representing Serbia to be ranked in the Top 50, following Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic, Bojana Jovanovski Petrovic and Aleksandra Krunic.
Despite losing in the first round of Melbourne, Ashlyn Krueger also inches up two places to No.50 and makes her Top 50 debut. The 20-year-old American reached back-to-back quarterfinals in Brisbane and Adelaide to start the year.
Other notable rankings movements
Elena Rybakina, +2 to No.5: The highest-ranked player to climb this week, Rybakina returns to the Top 5 for the first time since November after reaching the Australian Open fourth round.
Donna Vekic, +2 to No.17: The Olympic silver medalist reached the fourth round of the Australian Open and inches up to a new career high. Vekic first reached No.19 in November 2019, then No.18 in October 2024.
Naomi Osaka, +9 to No.42: Former World No.1 Osaka reached the third round of a major for the first time since returning from maternity leave, but her Australian Open run was halted by injury.
Veronika Kudermetova, +24 to No.51: Former No.9 Kudermetova reached the fourth round of a major for the first time since the 2022 US Open, and third time overall. Having been overtaken in the rankings by younger sister Polina three weeks ago, Veronika is once again the highest-ranked player in the family, seven places ahead of Polina at No.58.
Jaqueline Cristian, +21 to No.61: The 26-year-old Romanian made the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time and is now four places beneath her career high of No.57, which she hit last July.
Tatjana Maria, +17 to No.73: The oldest player in the Top 100, 37-year-old Maria reached the second round of the Australian Open then won the Bengaluru ITF W100 last week.
Laura Siegemund, +17 to No.80: The second-oldest player in the Top 100, the 36-year-old Siegemund posted one of the biggest upsets of the Australian Open by defeating Zheng Qinwen in the second round. It was Siegemund’s fifth career Top 5 win, and first outside Stuttgart.
Solana Sierra, +24 to No.142: The 20-year-old Argentinian won her first ITF W75 title last week in Vero Beach, Florida, and reaches a new career high.
Hanne Vandewinkel, +30 to No.189: The 20-year-old Belgian makes her Top 200 debut after winning the La Marsa ITF W50 two weeks ago.
Linda Klimovicova, +60 to No.212: At two La Marsa ITF W50 events over the past two weeks, the 20-year-old Pole was runner-up at the first and champion at the second.
Whitney Osuigwe, +48 to No.213: Former junior No.1 Osuigwe reached No.105 as a 17-year-old in 2019, but fell out of the Top 450 by last April. Now 22 years old, the American opened 2025 with back-to-back runner-up finishes at the Palm Coast ITF W35 and Vero Beach ITF W75, and climbs to her highest ranking since May 2021.
Victoria Mboko, +69 to No.268: The 18-year-old Canadian opened 2025 with a 10-match winning streak across two Caribbean ITF W35 events, taking the titles in Le Lamentin and Petit-Bourg to reach a new career high.
Danka Kovinic, +713 to No.576: Former No.46 Kovinic, who was sidelined for 11 months due to injury between 2023-24, defeated Lulu Sun in Melbourne to win her first Grand Slam match since Roland Garros 2022.
© Copyrights Sixsports. All Rights Reserved.