Ranking Reaction: Iga Swiatek kicks off 30th consecutive week at No. 1

Also, Jessica Pegula sets a new high of No. 3, Coco Gauff breaks the Top 5 and Zhang Zhizhen becomes the first Chinese man to reach the Top 100 in ATP rankings history.

Published Oct 24, 2022

MATCH POINT: J.Pegula def. M. Sakkari ; Championship Point Guadalajara

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Iga Swiatek, who won her eighth WTA title of the year in San Diego a week ago, kicks off her 30th consecutive week at No. 1 on the WTA rankings today. She first rose to the top spot on April 4, right after winning in Miami.

Since WTA rankings began in 1975, Swiatek is just the fourth woman to spend 30 or more consecutive weeks at No. 1 in their very first stint at the top spot.

WOMEN TO SPEND 30+ WEEKS AT NO. 1 IN FIRST STINT AT NO. 1 ON WTA RANKINGS:

Steffi Graf: 186 weeks in first stint [August 17, 1987 to March 10, 1991]
Martina Hingis: 80 weeks in first stint [March 31, 1997 to October 11, 1998]
Serena Williams: 57 weeks in first stint [July 8, 2002 to August 10, 2003]
Iga Swiatek: 30 weeks so far in first stint [April 4, 2022 to present]

Swiatek is one of only 15 women who have accumulated 30 or more career weeks at No. 1 on the WTA rankings in total, alongside Graf (377), Martina Navratilova (332), Serena (319), Chris Evert (260), Hingis (209), Monica Seles (178), Ashleigh Barty (121), Justine Henin (117), Lindsay Davenport (98), Caroline Wozniacki (71), Simona Halep (64), Victoria Azarenka (51), Amelie Mauresmo (39) and Angelique Kerber (34).

With more than twice as many ranking points as anyone else on the WTA rankings, Swiatek's stay at No. 1 likely won't come under any kind of threat until at least next spring or summer.

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Meanwhile, Jessica Pegula rises from No. 5 to a new career-high ranking of No. 3 after winning the biggest title of her career at the WTA 1000 event in Guadalajara.

Pegula is the 13th American woman ever to reach the Top 3 on the WTA rankings, joining eight former No. 1s (Evert, Navratilova, Tracy Austin, Seles, Davenport, Jennifer Capriati, Venus Williams and Serena), two former No. 2s (Billie Jean King and Andrea Jaeger) and two former No. 3s (Pam Shriver and Sloane Stephens).

And right behind Pegula is another new American career-high, as Coco Gauff rises from No. 7 to No. 4—her Top 5 debut—after reaching the quarterfinals in Guadalajara.

Gauff is one of only 17 American women to reach the Top 4 in WTA rankings history—the 13 mentioned above who’ve reached the Top 3 (including Pegula) as well as Zina Garrison, Mary Joe Fernandez and Sofia Kenin.

She’s also the first American teenager to make her Top 5 debut since Serena in 1999.

There’s also a Top 10 debut on the WTA rankings, with Veronika Kudermetova rising from No. 12 to No. 9 after reaching the quarterfinals in Guadalajara.

This one is for you, mom 💜@JLPegula | #GDLOPENAKRON pic.twitter.com/Fte165yKlc
— wta (@WTA) October 24, 2022

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Over on the ATP rankings, Holger Rune—the only teenager in the Top 100 other than Carlos Alcaraz—is into the Top 25 for the first time, rising from No. 27 to No. 25 after capturing his second ATP title of the year in Stockholm. With only about 200 points to defend between now and next year’s clay-court season, look out for the 19-year-old Dane to improve on that ranking even more over the next five months.

Also, history has been made this week: Zhang Zhizhen has become the first Chinese man to reach the Top 100 in ATP rankings history, rising from No. 109 to No. 97 after reaching the quarterfinals at the ATP 250 event in Naples. The 26-year-old became the first Chinese man to play in the main draw of Wimbledon in the Open Era last year, and was one of the first two Chinese men to play in the main draw of the US Open in the Open Era this year (alongside countryman Wu Yibing).

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