Record Breaker: Iga Swiatek Surpasses Ashleigh Barty to Become Seventh-Best No. 1 in History after she…

Iga Swiatek has reached a new milestone in her career by becoming the seventh player with the most weeks as number 1 in the WTA rankings, surpassing Ashleigh Barty. With this week, Swiatek reaches a total of 122 weeks at the top of women’s tennis, leaving behind the Australian, who remained 121 weeks at the top.

As for the biggest changes in the top 10, Danielle Collins (9th) and Barbora Krejcikova (10th) moved up one place. Daria Kasatkina climbed 2 places to 11th and Beatriz Haddad Maia was the biggest mover of the week, moving up 5 places to 12th. Maria Sakkari drops 8 positions from 9th to 17th. Paula Badosa climbs one position and is 19th.

The official WTA ranking system was established on November 3, 1975. Since then, only six players have managed to stay longer than Swiatek in the top position. Among them are legends of the sport such as Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova, Serena Williams, Chris Evert, Martina Hingis and Monica Seles, who dominate the top spots in this historical ranking.

This achievement underlines Swiatek’s dominance in women’s tennis in recent years, although her reign could face challenges in the coming tournaments. The Pole has had to withdraw from the WTA 1000 Beijing tournament, where she was the defending champion, due to personal reasons. Although Aryna Sabalenka, the world No. 2, will not be able to overtake her in this tournament, she has a chance to come dangerously close. Moreover, while Swiatek defends her title at the WTA Finals, Sabalenka will only have to defend the points from the semifinals, which puts the No. 1 ranking at stake.