Aryna Sabalenka hits the ball as hard as anyone in the women's game, off a booming serve and a flat forehand that ends rallies before they start. For a long time that power came loose: the aggression that won her matches also handed them back, and the errors piled up alongside the winners. The turn came when she learned to hold the line under it. The same first strike, kept on a leash, carried her to world No. 1 for the first time in 2023, and she has anchored the top of the rankings from there.
Her 4 Grand Slam titles arrived in a tight run: back-to-back Australian Opens in 2023 and 2024, then two US Opens in 2024 and 2025, the second making her the first woman to defend the New York title since Serena Williams. Born in Minsk, she competes as a neutral athlete, without the Belarusian flag beside her name. The players who have pushed her hardest are Elena Rybakina, who traded major finals with her, and Iga Swiatek, the rival who kept her honest at the front of the sport.
Twenty-nine. That is how many places Lilli Tagger climbed in this week's WTA rankings, from No. 74 to a career-best No. 45, after the 18-year-old won the Livesport Prague Open. She was one of four players to break into the top 50 in a week when the entire top 10 held its exact place.
Ranking taleTwenty-four. That is how many places Mayar Sherif climbed in this week's WTA rankings, from 97 to 73. The 30-year-old won the title in Iasi, a tour-level event, beating Paula Badosa in the final, and it is the biggest jump on this week's list, in a week when the very top of the WTA rankings did not move at all.
Ranking tale