Womens Tennis

Haddad Maia breaks into Top 10; Svitolina climbs higher

Haddad Maia breaks into Top 10; Svitolina climbs higher

As Roland Garros concludes, we have now arrived at the tour’s halfway mark.

No doubt Iga Swiatek took center stage, defending her title in three sets and reinforcing her standing as the World No.1. However, there was plenty of movement in the rankings landscape.

Here’s a breakdown of all the reshuffling and noteworthy achievements following the second Grand Slam event of the season.

Swiatek defends title, No.1 ranking

By successfully defending her title at Roland Garros, Swiatek extended her reign as the top-ranked player to 63 consecutive weeks since taking over on April 4, 2022.  Swiatek became only the second player to win back-to-back titles at Roland Garros as a World No.1, joining Monica Seles (1991, 1992).

Entering Roland Garros, Swiatek was tasked with a two-fold challenge: to progress beyond the quarterfinals and outperform World No.2 Aryna Sabalenka, who herself advanced to the semifinals. Swiatek now enters the grass-court season with a comfortable 928-point lead over Sabalenka — with no points to defend.

French Open finals reaction

A Brazilian first

Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia makes her Top 10 debut this week after reaching the final four at Roland Garros, becoming the first Brazilian woman to reach a Grand Slam semifinal since the 1968 US Open (Maria Bueno).

By also reaching the quarterfinals at Stuttgart and Rome during the clay-court swing, the 27-year-old Haddad Maia collected 1,105 ranking points on clay, paving the way for her to become the first Brazilian to crack the WTA Top 10 since the WTA rankings were introduced.

Last season, Haddad Maia won the first two singles titles of her career, at WTA 250 tournaments at the Rothesay Open Nottingham and the Rothesay Classic Birmingham in back-to-back weeks, before reaching the final at the WTA 1000 National Bank Open.

Haddad Maia is the second player to make her Top 10 debut this year, joining Elena Rybakina on Jan. 30.

Americans crowd doubles Top 5

Katerina Siniakova and Barbora Krejcikova continue to hold the Top 2 spots in the doubles rankings, at Nos.1 and 2, respectively. Siniakova is spending her 102nd week at No.1 and has held the top spot for 40 consecutive weeks, a streak that started on Sept. 12, 2022.

The doubles Top 5 is rounded out by a trio of Americans: Jessica Pegula at No.3, Coco Gauff at No.4 and Taylor Townsend at No.5.

Pegula and Gauff most recently advanced to the semifinals at Roland Garros, before falling to Townsend and…

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