Aryna Sabalenka extends WTA rankings lead, Amanda Anisimova reaches career high

Sabalenka started last week with a 186-point advantage over second-place Iga Swiatek in the rankings and, although the world number one lost in the second round of the Qatar Open, there was a big points swing after the Pole failed to defend her title.

Swiatek was beaten in the semi-final and thus "lost" 610 points, meaning the gap to Sabalenka is now 806 points ahead of the Dubai Tennis Championships.

With third-placed Coco Gauff and fourth-placed Jasmine Paolini also losing early in Doha, there was no real change behind the top two.

Outside of the top 10, Mirra Andreeva is up one place to a new career-high of No 14 while there is a new entrant in the top 20 as Qatar Open champion Anisimova surged 23 places to No 18.

The American won her third WTA singles title, but the biggest one of her career when she beat Jelena Ostapenko 6-4, 6-3 in the final and the result was a big jump from her previous best of 22.

Anisimova started the year at No 36, but took her record for the season to 9-2 with her title run.

Former world No 5 and 2017 French Open winner Ostapenko, who defeated Swiatek in straight sets in the semi-final to take her head-to-head record with the Pole to 5-0, is up 11 spots to No 26.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova reached the semi-final in Qatar last year, but lost in the second round in 2025 and thus dropped 11 places to No 36 while Naomi Osaka â- a quarter-finalist in 2024 â- is down 10 places to No 54 as she didnâ™t compete this season.

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