Tennis: WTA rankings, Paolini remains eighth, Sabalenka leads

Turin, 13 October (LaPresse) – Once again this week, there are three Italian players in the top 100 of the WTA rankings. Jasmine Paolini remains the Italian leader: the 29-year-old from Bagni di Lucca is stable in eighth place thanks to her semi-final appearance on the hard courts of Wuhan, China (where she was stopped by Gauff, who went on to win the title). Behind her, Lucia Bronzetti drops ten places to number 84, while Elisabetta Cocciaretto moves up to number 91. In the world top ten, there is a change of position and a new entry. Aryna Sabalenka remains in the lead for the 52nd consecutive week (her 60th overall: she had already been there from 11 September to 5 November 2023): the 27-year-old from Minsk, twice queen of New York, failed to defend her title in Wuhan (defeated in the semi-finals by Pegula) and saw her lead over Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek reduced to 1,632 points. The 24-year-old from Warsaw, former world number one, lost her lead a year ago after 125 weeks overall (the last 50 consecutive). On the third step of the podium is the winner of Wuhan (and Roland Garros), the American Coco Gauff, now 895 points behind the Polish player. The 21-year-old from Atlanta, Georgia, is ahead of her two compatriots Amanda Anisimova, who confirms her “best” ranking, and Jessica Pegula, who thanks to the Wuhan final gains one position and is fifth, overtaking 18-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva, who drops to sixth place. Behind her, stable, is the fourth American in the top ten, Madison Keys, winner in Australia, but who has been out of action for several weeks, seventh ahead of Jasmine Paolini, eighth. Behind the Italian is Kazakhstan’s Elena Ribakina, ninth, ahead of this week’s new entry, Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova, tenth, who gains one position with her round of 16 finish in Wuhan and marks her best ranking. China’s Qinwen Zheng, the second player from her country to enter the world elite after Li Na, has dropped out of the top ten, at least for the moment. The 22-year-old from Shiyan, who underwent surgery on her right elbow, was out for over two months before returning to the tour in Beijing.