Aryna Sabalenka back to career-high world no. 2; Elena Rybakina makes top-10 debut in WTA Rankings

New Delhi : Aryna Sabalenka attained her career-high ranking of World No. 2 after winning the Australian Open women’s singles title while runner-up Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan marked her top-10 debut in the latest WTA Rankings released on Monday.

Sabalenka came back from a set down to defeat Rybakina 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the final to win her first Grand Slam title on Saturday. The triumph saw her improve her ranking by 3 spots to number two with 6100 ranking points.

Having paved her way to her second major final with wins over World No.1 Iga Swiatek, Jelena Ostapenko, and Victoria Azarenka, reigning Wimbledon champion Rybakina took a giant leap of 15 places to sit in tenth place.

Poland’s Swiatek, however, retained her No. 1 spot with 10485 pimts, which is 4385 ranking points ahead of Sabalenka. With her quarterfinal run, Latvia’s Ostapenko jumped five places to 12th while Azarenka climbed eight places to get back in the top 20.

Other players that improved their ranking are Dona Vekic, who is back up to 33, and Linda Fruhvirtova jumped 31 spots to 51. Naomi Osaka, meanwhile, slipped to 65. Last year’s finalist Danielle Collins dropped 29 spots to be placed 40th.