List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players

The WTA rankings are the Women's Tennis Association's (WTA) merit-based system for determining the rankings in women's tennis. The top-ranked player is the player who, over the previous 52 weeks, has garnered the most ranking points on the WTA Tour. Points are awarded based on how far a player advances in tournaments and the category of those tournaments. The WTA has used a computerized system for determining the rankings since November 3, 1975. Since 1975, 28 women have been ranked No. 1 by the WTA, of which 14 have been year-end No. 1.

Iga Świątek, currently ranked No. 1 in women's singles

WTA No. 1 ranked singles players

The rankings are sourced by the WTA Media Guide and the WTA website (which usually revises its rankings every Sunday night or Monday morning, except when tournament finals are postponed).[1][2]

Steffi Graf spent 377 weeks at the top of the WTA ranking, the most of any player.
 WTA rankings record.
  Current World No. 1 (weeks are automatically updated).
No. Player Start date End date Weeks Total
1  Chris Evert (USA) Nov 3, 1975 Apr 25, 1976 25 25
2  Evonne Goolagong Cawley (AUS) Apr 26, 1976 May 9, 1976 2 2
Chris Evert (2) May 10, 1976 Jul 9, 1978 113 138
3  Martina Navratilova (USA) Jul 10, 1978 Jan 13, 1979 26 26
Chris Evert (3) Jan 14, 1979 Jan 27, 1979 2 140
Martina Navratilova (2) Jan 28, 1979 Feb 24, 1979 4 30
Chris Evert (4) Feb 25, 1979 Apr 15, 1979 7 147
Martina Navratilova (3) Apr 16, 1979 Jun 24, 1979 10 40
Chris Evert (5) Jun 25, 1979 Sep 9, 1979 11 158
Martina Navratilova (4) Sep 10, 1979 Apr 6, 1980 31 71
4  Tracy Austin (USA) Apr 7, 1980 Apr 20, 1980 2 2
Martina Navratilova (5) Apr 21, 1980 Jul 6, 1980 11 82
Tracy Austin (2) Jul 7, 1980 Nov 17, 1980 19 21
Chris Evert (6) Nov 18, 1980 May 2, 1982 76 234
Martina Navratilova (6) May 3, 1982 May 16, 1982 2 84
Chris Evert (7) May 17, 1982 Jun 13, 1982 4 238
Martina Navratilova (7) Jun 14, 1982 Jun 9, 1985 156 240
Chris Evert (8) Jun 10, 1985 Oct 13, 1985 18 256
Martina Navratilova (8) Oct 14, 1985 Oct 27, 1985 2 242
Chris Evert (9) Oct 28, 1985 Nov 24, 1985 4 260
Martina Navratilova (9) Nov 25, 1985 Aug 16, 1987 90 332
5  Steffi Graf (GER) Aug 17, 1987 Mar 10, 1991 186 186
6  Monica Seles (YUG) Mar 11, 1991 Aug 4, 1991 21 21
Steffi Graf (2) Aug 5, 1991 Aug 11, 1991 1 187
Monica Seles (2) Aug 12, 1991 Aug 18, 1991 1 22
Steffi Graf (3) Aug 19, 1991 Sep 8, 1991 3 190
/ Monica Seles[n 1] (3) Sep 9, 1991 Jun 6, 1993 91 113
Steffi Graf (4) Jun 7, 1993 Feb 5, 1995 87 277
7  Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (ESP) Feb 6, 1995 Feb 19, 1995 2 2
Steffi Graf (5) Feb 20, 1995 Feb 26, 1995 1 278
Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (2) Feb 27, 1995 Apr 9, 1995 6 8
Steffi Graf (6) Apr 10, 1995 May 14, 1995 5 283
Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (3) May 15, 1995 Jun 11, 1995 4 12
Steffi Graf (7) Jun 12, 1995 Aug 14, 1995 9 292
Steffi Graf (7) Aug 15, 1995 Nov 3, 1996 64 356
Monica Seles[n 1] (4) 177
Steffi Graf (7) Nov 4, 1996 Nov 17, 1996 2 358
Steffi Graf (7) Nov 18, 1996 Nov 24, 1996 1 359
Monica Seles (5) 178
Steffi Graf (7) Nov 25, 1996 Mar 30, 1997 18 377
8  Martina Hingis (SUI) Mar 31, 1997 Oct 11, 1998 80 80
9  Lindsay Davenport (USA) Oct 12, 1998 Feb 7, 1999 17 17
Martina Hingis (2) Feb 8, 1999 Jul 4, 1999 21 101
Lindsay Davenport (2) Jul 5, 1999 Aug 8, 1999 5 22
Martina Hingis (3) Aug 9, 1999 Apr 2, 2000 34 135
Lindsay Davenport (3) Apr 3, 2000 May 7, 2000 5 27
Martina Hingis (4) May 8, 2000 May 14, 2000 1 136
Lindsay Davenport (4) May 15, 2000 May 21, 2000 1 28
Martina Hingis (5) May 22, 2000 Oct 14, 2001 73 209
10  Jennifer Capriati (USA) Oct 15, 2001 Nov 4, 2001 3 3
Lindsay Davenport (5) Nov 5, 2001 Jan 13, 2002 10 38
Jennifer Capriati (2) Jan 14, 2002 Feb 24, 2002 6 9
11  Venus Williams (USA) Feb 25, 2002 Mar 17, 2002 3 3
Jennifer Capriati (3) Mar 18, 2002 Apr 21, 2002 5 14
Venus Williams (2) Apr 22, 2002 May 19, 2002 4 7
Jennifer Capriati (4) May 20, 2002 Jun 9, 2002 3 17
Venus Williams (3) Jun 10, 2002 Jul 7, 2002 4 11
12  Serena Williams (USA) Jul 8, 2002 Aug 10, 2003 57 57
13  Kim Clijsters (BEL) Aug 11, 2003 Oct 19, 2003 10 10
14  Justine Henin (BEL) Oct 20, 2003 Oct 26, 2003 1 1
Kim Clijsters (2) Oct 27, 2003 Nov 9, 2003 2 12
Justine Henin (2) Nov 10, 2003 Sep 12, 2004 44 45
15  Amélie Mauresmo (FRA) Sep 13, 2004 Oct 17, 2004 5 5
Lindsay Davenport (6) Oct 18, 2004 Aug 21, 2005 44 82
16  Maria Sharapova (RUS) Aug 22, 2005 Aug 28, 2005 1 1
Lindsay Davenport (7) Aug 29, 2005 Sep 11, 2005 2 84
Maria Sharapova (2) Sep 12, 2005 Oct 23, 2005 6 7
Lindsay Davenport (8) Oct 24, 2005 Jan 29, 2006 14 98
Kim Clijsters (3) Jan 30, 2006 Mar 19, 2006 7 19
Amélie Mauresmo (2) Mar 20, 2006 Nov 12, 2006 34 39
Justine Henin (3) Nov 13, 2006 Jan 28, 2007 11 56
Maria Sharapova (3) Jan 29, 2007 Mar 18, 2007 7 14
Justine Henin (4) Mar 19, 2007 May 18, 2008 61 117
Maria Sharapova (4) May 19, 2008 Jun 8, 2008 3 17
17  Ana Ivanovic (SRB) Jun 9, 2008 Aug 10, 2008 9 9
18  Jelena Janković (SRB) Aug 11, 2008 Aug 17, 2008 1 1
Ana Ivanovic (2) Aug 18, 2008 Sep 7, 2008 3 12
Serena Williams (2) Sep 8, 2008 Oct 5, 2008 4 61
Jelena Janković (2) Oct 6, 2008 Feb 1, 2009 17 18
Serena Williams (3) Feb 2, 2009 Apr 19, 2009 11 72
19  Dinara Safina (RUS) Apr 20, 2009 Oct 11, 2009 25 25
Serena Williams (4) Oct 12, 2009 Oct 25, 2009 2 74
Dinara Safina (2) Oct 26, 2009 Nov 1, 2009 1 26
Serena Williams (5) Nov 2, 2009 Oct 10, 2010 49 123
20  Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) Oct 11, 2010 Feb 13, 2011 18 18
Kim Clijsters (4) Feb 14, 2011 Feb 20, 2011 1 20
Caroline Wozniacki (2) Feb 21, 2011 Jan 29, 2012 49 67
21  Victoria Azarenka (BLR) Jan 30, 2012 Jun 10, 2012 19 19
Maria Sharapova (5) Jun 11, 2012 Jul 8, 2012 4 21
Victoria Azarenka (2) Jul 9, 2012 Feb 17, 2013 32 51
Serena Williams (6) Feb 18, 2013 Sep 11, 2016 186 309
22  Angelique Kerber (GER) Sep 12, 2016 Jan 29, 2017 20 20
Serena Williams (7) Jan 30, 2017 Mar 19, 2017 7 316
Angelique Kerber (2) Mar 20, 2017 Apr 23, 2017 5 25
Serena Williams (8) Apr 24, 2017 May 14, 2017 3 319
Angelique Kerber (3) May 15, 2017 Jul 16, 2017 9 34
23  Karolína Plíšková (CZE) Jul 17, 2017 Sep 10, 2017 8 8
24  Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP) Sep 11, 2017 Oct 8, 2017 4 4
25  Simona Halep (ROU) Oct 9, 2017 Jan 28, 2018 16 16
Caroline Wozniacki (3) Jan 29, 2018 Feb 25, 2018 4 71
Simona Halep (2) Feb 26, 2018 Jan 27, 2019 48 64
26  Naomi Osaka (JPN) Jan 28, 2019 Jun 23, 2019 21 21
27  Ashleigh Barty (AUS) Jun 24, 2019 Aug 11, 2019 7 7
Naomi Osaka (2) Aug 12, 2019 Sep 8, 2019 4 25
Ashleigh Barty (2) Sep 9, 2019 Mar 22, 2020 28 35
Rankings frozen
Mar 23, 2020 Aug 9, 2020 20
Ashleigh Barty (2) Aug 10, 2020 Apr 3, 2022 86 121
28  Iga Świątek (POL) Apr 4, 2022 Present 5 5
Note
  1. Monica Seles was stabbed by a spectator during a WTA tournament match on 30 April 1993; while ranked number one. When she returned to competition in 1995, the WTA decided to reinstate her alongside Graf as number one, with her ranking protected for a year until she had a full season of ranking points accrued.[3]

Weeks at No. 1

Total

# Player Weeks
1 Steffi Graf377
2 Martina Navratilova332
3 Serena Williams319
4 Chris Evert260
5 Martina Hingis209
6/ Monica Seles178
7 Ashleigh Barty121
8 Justine Henin117
9 Lindsay Davenport98
10 Caroline Wozniacki71
11 Simona Halep64
12 Victoria Azarenka51
13 Amélie Mauresmo39
14 Angelique Kerber34
15 Dinara Safina26
16 Naomi Osaka25
17 Tracy Austin21
Maria Sharapova
19 Kim Clijsters20
20 Jelena Janković18
21 Jennifer Capriati17
22 Arantxa Sánchez Vicario12
Ana Ivanovic
24 Venus Williams11
25 Karolína Plíšková8
26 Iga Świątek5
27 Garbiñe Muguruza4
28 Evonne Goolagong Cawley2
active players – current no. 1 in bold.

Consecutive

# Player Weeks
1 Steffi Graf186
Serena Williams
3 Martina Navratilova156
4 Ashleigh Barty114
5 Chris Evert113
6 Steffi Graf (2)94
7 Monica Seles91
8 Martina Navratilova (2) 90
9 Steffi Graf (3) 87
10 Martina Hingis80
11 Chris Evert (2)76
12 Martina Hingis (2)73
13 Monica Seles (2)64
14 Justine Henin61
15 Serena Williams (2)57
16 Serena Williams (3)49
Caroline Wozniacki
18 Simona Halep48
19 Justine Henin (2)44
Lindsay Davenport
current streak in bold.

Weeks are updated automatically.[4][5]
The source for this through the week of January 2, 2012, is the 2012 WTA Tour Official Guide, page 177.[1]

Weeks at No. 1 leaders timeline

Year span Leader Date achieved Duration Record
1975–1985 Chris Evert 3 November 1975 9 years, 6 months 238
1985–1985 Martina Navratilova 27 May 1985 0 months 240
1985–1986 Chris Evert 24 June 1985 9 months 260
1986–1996 Martina Navratilova 31 March 1986 10 years, 1 month 332
1996–present Steffi Graf 21 May 1996 25 years, 11 months 377

Current record in bold.

Year-end No. 1 players

The source for this through to 2012 is the 2012 WTA Tour Official Guide, page 178.[1]

By year

Year Player
1975  Chris Evert (USA)
1976 Chris Evert (2)
1977* Chris Evert (3)
1978  Martina Navratilova (USA)
1979 Martina Navratilova (2)
1980 Chris Evert (4)
1981* Chris Evert (5)
1982 Martina Navratilova (3)
1983* Martina Navratilova (4)
1984* Martina Navratilova (5)
1985 Martina Navratilova (6)
1986* Martina Navratilova (7)
1987  Steffi Graf (GER)
1988* Steffi Graf (2)
1989* Steffi Graf (3)
1990* Steffi Graf (4)
1991  Monica Seles (YUG)
1992* Monica Seles (2)
1993 Steffi Graf (5)
1994* Steffi Graf (6)
1995 Steffi Graf (7)
Monica Seles (3)
1996* Steffi Graf (8)
1997  Martina Hingis (SUI)
1998  Lindsay Davenport (USA)
1999 Martina Hingis (2)
2000 Martina Hingis (3)
2001 Lindsay Davenport (2)
2002  Serena Williams (USA)
2003  Justine Henin (BEL)
2004 Lindsay Davenport (3)
2005 Lindsay Davenport (4)
2006 Justine Henin (2)
2007 Justine Henin (3)
2008 Jelena Janković
2009 Serena Williams (2)
2010  Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)
2011 Caroline Wozniacki (2)
2012 Victoria Azarenka
2013 Serena Williams (3)
2014* Serena Williams (4)
2015* Serena Williams (5)
2016 Angelique Kerber
2017  Simona Halep (ROU)
2018 Simona Halep (2)
2019  Ashleigh Barty (AUS)
2020* Ashleigh Barty (2)
2021* Ashleigh Barty (3)
* Player was ranked No. 1 throughout the calendar year.

Per player

Total

# Player
8 Steffi Graf
7 Martina Navratilova
5 Chris Evert
Serena Williams
4 Lindsay Davenport
3 / Monica Seles
Martina Hingis
Justine Henin
Ashleigh Barty
2 Caroline Wozniacki
Simona Halep
1 Jelena Janković
Victoria Azarenka
Angelique Kerber

Consecutive

# Player
5 Martina Navratilova
4 Steffi Graf (x2)
3 Chris Evert
Serena Williams
Ashleigh Barty
2 Martina Navratilova
Chris Evert
Monica Seles
Martina Hingis
Lindsay Davenport
Justine Henin
Caroline Wozniacki
Simona Halep

Players who became No. 1 without having won a Grand Slam title

Player First ranked No. 1 First Grand Slam final First Grand Slam title
Kim Clijsters August 11, 20032001 French Open (June 2001) (1st of 8)2005 US Open (1st of 4, retired in 2022)
Amélie Mauresmo September 13, 20041999 Australian Open (January 1999) (1st of 3)2006 Australian Open (1st of 2, retired in 2009)
Jelena Janković August 11, 20082008 US Open (September 2008) (only final)None (retired in 2017)
Dinara Safina April 20, 20092008 French Open (June 2008) (1st of 3)None (retired in 2014)
Caroline Wozniacki October 11, 20102009 US Open (September 2009) (1st of 3)2018 Australian Open (only title, retired in 2020)
Karolína Plíšková July 17, 20172016 US Open (September 2016) (1st of 2)None (still active)
Simona Halep October 9, 20172014 French Open (June 2014) (1st of 5)2018 French Open (1st of 2, still active)

Weeks at No. 1 by decade

Weeks at No. 1 by country

  Current no. 1 player indicated in bold.
Rank Country Total Players
Players Weeks
1 United States81,123Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Tracy Austin, Monica Seles*, Lindsay Davenport, Jennifer Capriati, Venus Williams, Serena Williams
2 Germany2411Steffi Graf, Angelique Kerber
3  Switzerland1209Martina Hingis
4// Yugoslavia/Serbia3143Monica Seles*, Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Janković
5 Belgium2137Kim Clijsters, Justine Henin
6 Australia2123Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Ashleigh Barty
7 Denmark171Caroline Wozniacki
8 Romania164Simona Halep
9 Belarus151Victoria Azarenka
10 Russia247Maria Sharapova, Dinara Safina
11 France139Amélie Mauresmo
12 Japan125Naomi Osaka
13 Spain216Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Garbiñe Muguruza
14 Czech Republic18Karolína Plíšková
15 Poland15Iga Świątek

Weeks are updated automatically.
* Monica Seles is included twice due to change of citizenship.

See also

References

  1. "2012 WTA Media Guide" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 15, 2012.
  2. "WTA Singles Rankings". Archived from the original on February 8, 2014. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  3. "Seles is back in the limelight". The Irish Times. June 26, 1996. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  4. "WTA Press Center – Weeks at No. 1". Archived from the original on November 3, 2012.
  5. "WTA Notes & Netcords". Archived from the original on January 17, 2012.
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