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 )
‡ WTA rankings record.
* Current World No. 1 (weeks are automatically updated).
^ 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]
* Current No. 1 player (weeks are automatically updated).
Active players in bold .
Weeks are updated automatically.[ 6] [ 7]
The source for this through the week of January 2, 2012, is the 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]
* Player was ranked No. 1 throughout the entire calendar year.
By year (continued)[ 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
14 years, 310 days
Serena Williams
Jul 8, 2002
20 years, 285 days
May 14, 2017
35 years, 230 days
10 years, 21 days
Chris Evert
Nov 3, 1975
20 years, 317 days
Nov 24, 1985
30 years, 338 days
9 years, 225 days
Steffi Graf
Aug 17, 1987
18 years, 64 days
Mar 30, 1997
27 years, 289 days
9 years, 37 days
Martina Navratilova
Jul 10, 1978
21 years, 265 days
Aug 16, 1987
30 years, 302 days
7 years, 193 days
Kim Clijsters
Aug 11, 2003
20 years, 64 days
Feb 20, 2011
27 years, 257 days
7 years, 137 days
Caroline Wozniacki
Oct 11, 2010
20 years, 92 days
Feb 25, 2018
27 years, 229 days
7 years, 109 days
Lindsay Davenport
Oct 12, 1998
22 years, 126 days
Jan 29, 2006
29 years, 235 days
6 years, 321 days
Maria Sharapova
Aug 22, 2005
18 years, 125 days
Jul 8, 2012
25 years, 80 days
5 years, 258 days
Monica Seles
Mar 11, 1991
17 years, 99 days
Nov 24, 1996
22 years, 358 days
4 years, 211 days
Justine Henin
Oct 20, 2003
21 years, 141 days
May 18, 2008
25 years, 352 days
4 years, 197 days
Martina Hingis
Mar 31, 1997
16 years, 182 days
Oct 14, 2001
21 years, 14 days
2 years, 283 days
Ashleigh Barty
Jun 24, 2019
23 years, 61 days
Apr 3, 2022
25 years, 344 days
2 years, 199 days
Iga Świątek
Apr 4, 2022
20 years, 308 days
Oct 20, 2024
23 years, 142 days
2 years, 60 days
Amélie Mauresmo
Sep 13, 2004
25 years, 70 days
Nov 12, 2006
27 years, 130 days
1 year, 110 days
Simona Halep
Oct 9, 2017
26 years, 12 days
Jan 27, 2019
27 years, 122 days
1 year, 97 days
Aryna Sabalenka
Sep 11, 2023
25 years, 129 days
December 17, 2024
26 years, 226 days
1 year, 18 days
Victoria Azarenka
Jan 30, 2012
22 years, 183 days
Feb 17, 2013
23 years, 201 days
307 days
Angelique Kerber
Sep 12, 2016
28 years, 238 days
Jul 16, 2017
29 years, 179 days
237 days
Jennifer Capriati
Oct 15, 2001
25 years, 200 days
Jun 9, 2002
26 years, 72 days
224 days
Tracy Austin
Apr 7, 1980
17 years, 117 days
Nov 17, 1980
17 years, 341 days
223 days
Naomi Osaka
Jan 28, 2019
21 years, 104 days
Sep 8, 2019
21 years, 327 days
195 days
Dinara Safina
Apr 20, 2009
22 years, 358 days
Nov 1, 2009
23 years, 188 days
174 days
Jelena Janković
Aug 11, 2008
23 years, 165 days
Feb 1, 2009
23 years, 339 days
132 days
Venus Williams
Feb 25, 2002
21 years, 253 days
Jul 7, 2002
22 years, 20 days
125 days
Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
Feb 6, 1995
23 years, 50 days
Jun 11, 1995
23 years, 175 days
90 days
Ana Ivanovic
Jun 9, 2008
20 years, 216 days
Sep 7, 2008
20 years, 306 days
55 days
Karolína Plíšková
Jul 17, 2017
25 years, 118 days
Sep 10, 2017
25 years, 173 days
27 days
Garbiñe Muguruza
Sep 11, 2017
23 years, 338 days
Oct 8, 2017
24 years, 0 days
13 days
Evonne Goolagong Cawley
Apr 26, 1976
24 years, 270 days
May 9, 1976
24 years, 283 days
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.
* Monica Seles is included twice due to change of citizenship.
^ 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 . June 26, 1996. 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]