Tennis News

MELBOURNE, Australia – The first Grand Slam of 2017 saw the WTA rankings make its first major shifts since the end of last season – most notably at the top, where Serena Williams ended Angelique Kerber’s 20 weeks at No.1 after winning her 23rd major title at the Australian Open.

Williams has been ranked No.1 for 310 weeks since 2002, and shares the record for most consecutive weeks atop the rankings at 186 with Stefanie Graf – a record Kerber ended by winning last summer’s US Open.

Click here to check out the updated WTA rankings, as of January 30.

Who else made big leaps Down Under?

Venus Williams (+6, No.17 to No.11): Venus fell just shy of returning to the Top 10 after making her first Grand Slam final since 2009. The elder Williams sister has shown off some of her best tennis at major tournaments of late, reaching semifinals in two of the last three, and could continue adding points through the next few months of hardcourt tournaments.

Karolina Pliskova (+2, No.5 to No.3): Pliskova reached the second week of a Grand Slam for the second straight time in Australia; it was also her second time ever after falling before the fourth round in her first 17 major appearances. Pliskova started the season strong with a win in Brisbane before running into a razor sharp Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in the quarterfinals.

Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (+50, No.79 to No.29): Speaking of Lucic-Baroni, the feel good story of the tournament made an improbable run to the semifinals of the Australian Open, her first at a Grand Slam since 1999, when she was just 17 years old. The 34-year-old Croat hadn’t won a main draw match in Australia since 1998, and ousted two Top 5 seeds (Pliskova and Agnieszka Radwanska) en route to the final four.

CoCo Vandeweghe (+15, No.35 to No.20): Vandeweghe made her Top 20 debut after her run to the Australian Open semifinals. The American was the youngest of the semifinalists, but nontheless boasted big wins over two of 2016’s major title-winners in Angelique Kerber and Garbiñe Muguruza.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (+5, No.27 to No.22): The Russian made her second Grand Slam quarterfinal out of the last three, stunning an in-form Elina Svitolina before crushing compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova to complete her Last Eight Club membership at all four major tournaments.

Jennifer Brady (+38, No.116 to No.78): In an impressive tournament for Americans, Brady was the freshest face in the second week of the Australian Open. Forced to qualify, she saved five match points to defeat Heather Watson before using her big serve to dispatch Elena Vesnina in the third round.

Sorana Cirstea (+19, No.78 to No.59): The former World No.21 continued her march back up the WTA rankings by reaching just her second career Grand Slam second week, and her first since the 2009 French Open.

Jelena Ostapenko (+5, No.38 to No.33): Ostapenko, 19, earned a career-high ranking after reaching the third round of the Australian Open – her best-ever finish at a major – and pushing Karolina Pliskova to the brink in a 10-8 final set.

SINGAPORE – Friday marks 100 days until the start of the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, and following an exciting, unpredictable and historic first half of the season all is still to play for.

The Road To Singapore leaderboard has started to take shape, with faces fresh and familiar occupying, while defending doubles champions Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza became the first to book their place at the season-ending finale.

At present Angelique Kerber, Garbiñe Muguruza, Serena Williams, the winners of 2016’s first three Grand Slams, and Victoria Azarenka, who competed the rare Indian Wells-Miami double, are the mid-season pacesetters on the leaderboard. However, with defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska and the in-form Dominika Cibulkova among those in pursuit, there will be plenty of jostling for position as the tour heads for the hardcourts of North America. 

“It has been a truly exciting year for women’s tennis and as we mark 100 days out from the WTA Finals, we have seen different champions crowned at each of the first three Grand Slams this year. The Road to Singapore has never been more thrilling and this is testament to the current depth of the women’s game, as we look to the future of outstanding players rising up the ranks,” said Melissa Pine, Vice-President of WTA Asia-Pacific and Tournament Director of the WTA Finals.

Hingis and Mirza are not the only big names to confirm their place in Singapore: former champion Chris Evert will return as official event ambassador for the third consecutive year. In her role, Evert will work with players and other ambassadors including Martina Navratilova and Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario to promote and raise the profile of the event and the sport in the region.

“As WTA Finals ambassador for the past couple of years, I’ve seen the event grow, and with it, the popularity of tennis in the region,” Evert said of her role. “This has been a great year for women’s tennis and there is so much to look forward to in the coming months on the Road to Singapore as we head towards the big finale. The strength and level of competition have been simply amazing, and I’m looking forward to an exciting eight days of tennis in October!”

This has not been the only off-court development either. To coincide with the 100-days countdown, the second phase of ticket sales was launched, opening up single-session tickets to all matches, including the semifinals and final. Admission to single sessions will range from $16 to $226, and can be purchased on WTAFinals.com.