Aryna Sabalenka , currently ranked No. 1 in women's singles.The WTA rankings are the Women's Tennis Association 's (WTA) merit-based system for determining the rankings in women's tennis . The top-ranked singles player is the player who, over the previous 52 weeks, has garnered the most ranking points on the WTA Tour . Points are awarded based on how far a player advances in tournaments and the category of those tournaments. The WTA has used a computerized system for determining the rankings since November 3, 1975. Since 1975, 29 women have been ranked No. 1 in singles by the WTA, of which 16 have been year-end No. 1.[ 1]
Aryna Sabalenka is the current singles world No. 1.
WTA No. 1 ranked singles players [ edit ] The rankings are sourced by the WTA Media Guide and the WTA website (which usually revises its rankings every Sunday night or Monday morning, except when tournament finals are postponed).[ 2] [ 3]
Steffi Graf spent 377 weeks at the top of the WTA ranking, the most of any female player. First-time No. 1 player. (in bold )
‡
*
^ a b Monica Seles was stabbed by a spectator during a WTA tournament match on 30 April 1993; while ranked number one. When she returned to competition in 1995, the WTA decided to reinstate her alongside Graf as number one, with her ranking protected for a year until she had a full season of ranking points accrued.[ 4]
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Active players in bold .
Weeks are updated automatically.[ 6] [ 7] 2012 WTA Tour Official Guide , page 177.[ 2]
Weeks at No. 1 leaders timeline [ edit ] Current record in bold .
No. 1 leaders timeline [ edit ] Year-end No. 1 players [ edit ] The source for this through to 2012 is the 2012 WTA Tour Official Guide , page 178.[ 2]
*
[ edit ]
Players who became No. 1 before having won a major tournament [ edit ]
Player
First ranked No. 1
First Grand Slam final
First Grand Slam title
Kim Clijsters
August 11, 2003
2001 French Open (June 2001) (1st of 8) 2005 US Open (1st of 4, retired in 2022)
Amélie Mauresmo
September 13, 2004
1999 Australian Open (January 1999) (1st of 3) 2006 Australian Open (1st of 2, retired in 2009)
Jelena Janković
August 11, 2008
2008 US Open (September 2008) (only final) None (retired in 2017)
Dinara Safina
April 20, 2009
2008 French Open (June 2008) (1st of 3) None (retired in 2014)
Caroline Wozniacki
October 11, 2010
2009 US Open (September 2009) (1st of 3) 2018 Australian Open (only title, still active)
Karolína Plíšková
July 17, 2017
2016 US Open (September 2016) (1st of 2) None (still active)
Simona Halep
October 9, 2017
2014 French Open (June 2014) (1st of 5) 2018 French Open (1st of 2, still active)
Time span between first and last dates No. 1 was held [ edit ] Current No. 1 player (date and age are updated automatically).
Active players and age records indicated in bold .
Time span
Player
First held No. 1
Last held No. 1
Date
Age
Date
Age
Serena Williams Jul 8, 2002
May 14, 2017
Chris Evert Nov 3, 1975
Nov 24, 1985
Steffi Graf Aug 17, 1987
Mar 30, 1997
Martina Navratilova Jul 10, 1978
Aug 16, 1987
Kim Clijsters Aug 11, 2003
Feb 20, 2011
Caroline Wozniacki Oct 11, 2010
Feb 25, 2018
Lindsay Davenport Oct 12, 1998
Jan 29, 2006
Maria Sharapova Aug 22, 2005
Jul 8, 2012
Monica Seles Mar 11, 1991
Nov 24, 1996
Justine Henin Oct 20, 2003
May 18, 2008
Martina Hingis Mar 31, 1997
Oct 14, 2001
Ashleigh Barty Jun 24, 2019
Apr 3, 2022
Iga Świątek Apr 4, 2022
Oct 20, 2024
Amélie Mauresmo Sep 13, 2004
Nov 12, 2006
Simona Halep Oct 9, 2017
Jan 27, 2019
Aryna Sabalenka Sep 11, 2023
December 23, 2024
Victoria Azarenka Jan 30, 2012
Feb 17, 2013
Angelique Kerber Sep 12, 2016
Jul 16, 2017
Jennifer Capriati Oct 15, 2001
Jun 9, 2002
Tracy Austin Apr 7, 1980
Nov 17, 1980
Naomi Osaka Jan 28, 2019
Sep 8, 2019
Dinara Safina Apr 20, 2009
Nov 1, 2009
Jelena Janković Aug 11, 2008
Feb 1, 2009
Venus Williams Feb 25, 2002
Jul 7, 2002
Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Feb 6, 1995
Jun 11, 1995
Ana Ivanovic Jun 9, 2008
Sep 7, 2008
Karolína Plíšková Jul 17, 2017
Sep 10, 2017
Garbiñe Muguruza Sep 11, 2017
Oct 8, 2017
Evonne Goolagong Cawley Apr 26, 1976
May 9, 1976
Weeks at No. 1 by decade [ edit ] Current No. 1 player indicated in italic .
* — Starting November 1975
WTA rankings were frozen from March 23, 2020 to August 9, 2020.
Stats are automatically updated on Mondays (UTC).
Weeks at No. 1 by country [ edit ] Current No. 1 player indicated in bold .
Weeks
Country
Players
1,123
United States Chris Evert , Martina Navratilova , Tracy Austin , Monica Seles *, Lindsay Davenport , Jennifer Capriati , Venus Williams , Serena Williams
411
Germany Steffi Graf , Angelique Kerber
209
Switzerland Martina Hingis
143
Yugoslavia /Serbia Monica Seles*, Ana Ivanovic , Jelena Janković
137
Belgium Kim Clijsters , Justine Henin
125
Poland Iga Świątek
123
Australia Evonne Goolagong Cawley , Ashleigh Barty
71
Denmark Caroline Wozniacki
64
Romania Simona Halep
51
Belarus [ a] Victoria Azarenka
47
Russia Maria Sharapova , Dinara Safina
39
France Amélie Mauresmo
25
Japan Naomi Osaka
16
Spain Arantxa Sánchez Vicario , Garbiñe Muguruza
8
Czech Republic Karolína Plíšková
Weeks are updated automatically.
^ a b c On 1 March 2022, the WTA announced that until further notice, players from Russia and Belarus would not be allowed to compete under the name or flag of Russia or Belarus following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine . Aryna Sabalenka thus competed under no nationality during this time and her tenure as number 1 is not attributed to Belarus in the "Weeks at No. 1 by country" table.[ 5]
^ "Aryna Sabalenka and Katerina Siniakova secure WTA Year-End No.1 rankings" . wtatennis.com . November 5, 2024. Retrieved November 8, 2024 .^ a b c "2012 WTA Media Guide" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on October 15, 2012.^ "WTA Singles Rankings" . Archived from the original on February 8, 2014. Retrieved March 2, 2014 .^ "Seles is back in the limelight" . The Irish Times . Retrieved July 7, 2015 .^ "Joint Statement by the International Governing Bodies of Tennis" . wtatennis.com . March 1, 2022. Retrieved September 4, 2023 .^ "WTA Press Center – Weeks at No. 1" . Archived from the original on November 3, 2012.^ "WTA Notes & Netcords" . Archived from the original on January 17, 2012.
WTA rankings incepted on 3 November 1975 (year first held/year last held – number of weeks (w)) current No. 1 in bold, as of week of 20 October 2024[update]
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Chris Evert (USA)
Evonne Goolagong Cawley (AUS)
Steffi Graf (FRG)
Monica Seles (YUG)
Monica Seles[n 1] (3)
Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (ESP)
Martina Hingis (SUI)
Kim Clijsters (BEL)
Amélie Mauresmo (FRA)
Maria Sharapova (RUS)
Ana Ivanovic (SRB)
Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)
Victoria Azarenka (BLR)
Karolína Plíšková (CZE)
Simona Halep (ROU)
Naomi Osaka (JPN)
Iga Świątek (POL)
Aryna Sabalenka[a]
Jelena Janković
United States
Switzerland
