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.
Nineteen. That is how many places Diane Parry has climbed in this week's WTA rankings, from 50 to a career-high 31, the biggest move anywhere on the list. The 23-year-old Frenchwoman won the title in Monterrey to get there, moving past her previous career high of 48.
Ranking taleFive hundred and eighty. That is the ranking of Thea Frodin, the wildcard who opens the US Open against second seed Elena Rybakina. The women's singles draw was made today, ahead of the tournament's start on 30 August, with top seed Aryna Sabalenka, the world No. 1 and defending champion, opening against Camila Osorio.
Draw tale