Ash Barty keeps tennis world No 1 ranking despite missing grand slams

Ashleigh Barty remains top of the latest WTA rankings despite missing the past two grand slam tournaments.

The Australian has 8,717 points as she leads the way from Romanian Simona Halep (7,255), one of French Open champion Iga Swiatek’s victims at Roland Garros, and Japan’s Naomi Osaka (5,780).

The WTA ranking system has been revised from a rolling 52-weeks system to a best-of 16 tournaments from March 2019 onwards owing to the coronavirus, allowing Barty to keep the No 1 ranking.

Polish teenager Swiatek stormed into the top 20, thanks to her surprise French Open title at the weekend.

Swiatek, 19, climbed 37 spots from 54 to a career-high 17 after her heroics in Paris.

Paris runner-up Sofia Kenin rose two to a career-high No 4, and Czech Petra Kvitova returned into the top 10 in eighth.

WTA top 10 as of 12 October

(previous ranking in parenthesis)

1. (1) Ashleigh Barty, Australia, 8,717 points

2. (2) Simona Halep, Romania, 7,255 points

3. (3) Naomi Osaka, Japan, 5,780

4. (6) Sofia Kenin, United States, 5,760

5. (5) Elina Svitolina, Ukraine, 5,260

6. (4) Karolina Pliskova, Czech Republic, 5,205

7. (7) Bianca Andreescu, Canada, 4,555

8. (11) Petra Kvitova,Czech Republic, 4,516

9. (8) Kiki Bertens, Netherlands, 4,505

10. (9) Serena Williams, United States, 4,080

source: theguardian.com