How Elena Rybakina’s Indian Wells setback impacts rankings battle with Coco Gauff

Reigning US Open champion Gauff was set for an intense battle for third place in the WTA Rankings in California this week, but defending champion Elena Rybakina’s withdrawal from the tournament means she will keep the world No 3 ranking until after the event – and maybe even until April.

With the top two of Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka well clear and not in any danger of being overtaken at Indian Wells, the focus was on third place.

The 19-year-old Gauff, playing in her final tournament as a teenager, started the WTA 1000 event at No 3 in the world, but she had a slim lead over Rybakina in fourth place with the former Wimbledon winner only 127 points adrift.

WTA Rankings Top 5
1. Iga Swiatek 10,105 points
2. Aryna Sabalenka 8,725
3. Coco Gauff 6,975
4. Elena Rybakina 6,848
5. Jessica Pegula 5,145

FULL WTA RANKINGS
However, Rybakina was unable to take the court on Friday for her second-round match against Nadia Podoroska due to illness.

“It is with great sadness I must announce, I will not be able to participate at this year’s Indian Wells tournament due to gastrointestinal issues,” she said in a statement.

“Those close to me know how much this tournament means to me and how much I wanted to come back and defend my title.

I would like to thank all the fans who came out here to support me and I am sorry they will not get a chance to see me play this year.

“Now I will rest and recover so I can come out and play and compete for my fans to the best of my abilities once again.”

It means Gauff has an opportunity to increase her lead over Rybakina even further with a couple of wins in the desert as she lost in the quarter-final last year so she only has 215 points to defend.

As things stand, Gauff will leave Indian Wells with at least a 922-point lead over Rybakina.

Live WTA Rankings

3. Gauff 6,770
4. Rybakina 5,848

It remains to be seen if Rybakina will be healthy by the time the Miami Open gets underway on March 19, but she also has a lot of points to defend in the second leg of the Sunshine Double.

Rybakina finished runner-up to Petra Kvitova in 2023 so will drop 650 points at the start of the tournament while Gauff lost in the third round and will drop only 65 points.

World No 2 Sabalenka could also come under pressure at the Miami Open as she finished runner-up (650 points) to Rybakina in Indian Wells last year and was a quarter-finalist (215 points) in Miami. Back-to-back early defeats for the reigning Australian Open champion at the Sunshine Double could open the No 2 door for Gauff.