Iga Swiatek ties Ashleigh Barty for seventh-most weeks at No. 1 in WTA rankings history
And that's not the only good ranking news for Polish tennis...
It’s a big 24 hours for Polish tennis.
On Sunday night, Magdalena Frech won the first WTA title of her career—and at a WTA 500 event, no less—in Guadalajara.
And now, on Monday morning, Iga Swiatek kicks off her 121st career week at No. 1, tying Ashleigh Barty for seventh-most weeks at No. 1 in the history of the WTA rankings, which began in November 1975.
MOST CAREER WEEKS AS WTA NO. 1 (since 1975):
377: Steffi Graf
332: Martina Navratilova
319: Serena Williams
260: Chris Evert
209: Martina Hingis
178: Monica Seles
121: Ashleigh Barty
121: Iga Swiatek
117: Justine Henin
98: Lindsay Davenport
Swiatek is guaranteed to pass Barty for standalone seventh place on next week’s rankings, and then there’s a while to go until she catches up with the next player on the list, Monica Seles, at 178.
The 23-year-old Pole currently has a 2,169-point gap between herself and No. 2-ranked Aryna Sabalenka at the top of the WTA rankings (10,885 to 8,716). Her lead over Sabalenka in the year-to-date standings is only 409 points, though (8,285 to 7,876).
Meanwhile, Frech jumps from No. 43 to No. 32—her Top 40 debut—after winning the WTA 500 event in Guadalajara, and she’s now the second-highest-ranked Polish woman, jumping over Magda Linette.
The highest-ranked Polish woman is, of course, the world No. 1.
There’s a pair of Top 100 debuts on the WTA rankings this week, too: Australia’s Olivia Gadecki, who reached her first WTA final in Guadalajara before falling to Frech, rises from No. 152 to No. 88, soaring past her previous career-high of No. 120; and Great Britain’s Sonay Kartal jumps from her previous best of No. 151 to No. 96 after capturing the WTA 250 title in Monastir, Tunisia.
There are no significant moves on the ATP rankings this week as there were no ATP events last week. Most top players who were in action were playing Davis Cup, which offers no ranking points.