Breaking News: WTA Rankings Update: Aryna Sabalenka’s No. 2 Ranking in Threat as She Narrowly Escapes Humiliation to Coco Gauff

The Madrid Open has shown us surprising results. Coco Gauff lost to Madison Keys, Aryna Sabalenka ended Danielle Collins’ 15-win streak and the Wimbledon champion lost in the round of 32. The live rankings of the WTA have become rather turbulent following such results. Most notably, Sabalenka fell as the world number 2 and Gauff has taken her spot

Gauff, albeit a clay specialist, has not had great results in the Mutua Madrid Open. In 2023, she lost in the round of 32 to Paula Badosa. This year, she reached the round of 16, which is her best result in the second clay Masters. Madison Keys ousted her in a surprising upset, but she still gained more points than she lost since she reached a new stage, hence she found herself at a new career-high of rank 2.

Aryna Sabalenka is playing in the 2024 Madrid Open as the defending champion. She gained 1000 points in the tournament last week and has managed to claim 225 points back, which means she lost 785 points. Hence, she dropped down to rank 3, at 7063 points, 250 points behind Gauff, who is at 7313 points

Gauff is out of the tournament but Sabalenka managed to continue her stint after a close call against Collins, beating her 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. If she were to win the quarterfinal, she would gain 175 points which will put her total to 2368. To reoccupy the top spot, Sabalenka will need to reach the final. The situation puts tensions high for Sabalenka fans as they pray for her victory.

Changes to the rest of the table
Tennis drama is always exciting at the top of the table. But the Madrid Open has caused changes to many positions. Qinwen Zheng and Marketa Vondrousova have gone up by 1 spot despite losing in the round of 64 and 32, respectively. After reaching the semifinal in 2023, Maria Sakkari could not go beyond the round of 16, which caused her to go down to rank 8.

Jasmine Paolini, who was eliminated in the round of 16, finds herself at rank 12, another career-high. Keys, after triumphing over Gauff, jumped up 4 spots and now sits at rank 16, coming a bit closer to regaining her all-time high. Yulia Putintseva experienced the biggest jump as she found herself in the quarterfinal of the Madrid Open, rising from 50 to 40.

Madrid has served us with prime tennis drama and will likely continue to bring us more as the final stages commence!