Iga Swiatek to drop out of Top 2 for first time in more than three years after early loss in Rome

There was a major surprise in Rome on Saturday, as Iga Swiatek—who had won the title three of the last four years, and who didn’t even drop a set en route to last year’s title—was stunned in straight sets in the third round of the WTA 1000 event this year by Danielle Collins, 6-1, 7-5.

And with that, her streak in the Top 2 will come to an end.

Swiatek will now drop from No. 2 to at least No. 4 when the next WTA rankings are published following the tournament, on Monday, May 19th.

Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula will be No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, and Jasmine Paolini has a chance of bumping Swiatek down even further to No. 5 should she go on to capture the title in the Italian capital.

When those new rankings are out, it will end Swiatek’s streak of 165 consecutive weeks inside the Top 2 since she first rose to No. 2 on March 21st, 2022. She spent 125 of those weeks at No. 1, and she’ll have spent 40 of them at No. 2, including next week (Rome is a two-week event).

Swiatek came into Rome with 6,773 ranking points, but she’ll drop 935—replacing the 1,000 she earned from winning the title last year with 65 for a third-round finish this year—leaving her with 5,838.

As of now, Gauff and Pegula both have more live points than Swiatek, so they'll both pass her—Gauff has 6,278 by reaching the third round and can build on that if she keeps winning, and Pegula has 6,200 after her third-round showing (she fell to Elise Mertens on Saturday).

And so, Gauff will return to the career-high ranking of No. 2 she first reached last year, and will be the No. 2 seed at Roland Garros.

Paolini is already through to the fourth round in Rome after a straight-set victory over former world No. 2 Ons Jabeur on Saturday.