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 singles 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, 29 women have been ranked No. 1 in singles by the WTA, of which 15 have been year-end No. 1.

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

Iga Świątek is the current singles world No. 1.

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 female player.
  First-time No. 1 player.
 WTA rankings record.
  Current World No. 1 (weeks are automatically updated).
No.PlayerStart dateEnd dateWeeksTotal
1  Chris Evert (USA)Nov 3, 1975Apr 25, 19762525
2  Evonne Goolagong Cawley (AUS)Apr 26, 1976May 9, 197622
Chris Evert (2)May 10, 1976Jul 9, 1978113138
3  Martina Navratilova (USA)Jul 10, 1978Jan 13, 19792626
Chris Evert (3)Jan 14, 1979Jan 27, 19792140
Martina Navratilova (2)Jan 28, 1979Feb 24, 1979430
Chris Evert (4)Feb 25, 1979Apr 15, 19797147
Martina Navratilova (3)Apr 16, 1979Jun 24, 19791040
Chris Evert (5)Jun 25, 1979Sep 9, 197911158
Martina Navratilova (4)Sep 10, 1979Apr 6, 19803171
4  Tracy Austin (USA)Apr 7, 1980Apr 20, 198022
Martina Navratilova (5)Apr 21, 1980Jul 6, 19801182
Tracy Austin (2)Jul 7, 1980Nov 17, 19801921
Chris Evert (6)Nov 18, 1980May 2, 198276234
Martina Navratilova (6)May 3, 1982May 16, 1982284
Chris Evert (7)May 17, 1982Jun 13, 19824238
Martina Navratilova (7)Jun 14, 1982Jun 9, 1985156240
Chris Evert (8)Jun 10, 1985Oct 13, 198518256
Martina Navratilova (8)Oct 14, 1985Oct 27, 19852242
Chris Evert (9)Oct 28, 1985Nov 24, 19854260
Martina Navratilova (9)Nov 25, 1985Aug 16, 198790332
5  Steffi Graf (FRG)Aug 17, 1987Mar 10, 1991186186
6  Monica Seles (YUG)Mar 11, 1991Aug 4, 19912121
Steffi Graf (2)Aug 5, 1991Aug 11, 19911187
Monica Seles (2)Aug 12, 1991Aug 18, 1991122
Steffi Graf (3)Aug 19, 1991Sep 8, 19913190
/ Monica Seles[n 1] (3)Sep 9, 1991Jun 6, 199391113
Steffi Graf (4)Jun 7, 1993Feb 5, 199587277
7  Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (ESP)Feb 6, 1995Feb 19, 199522
Steffi Graf (5)Feb 20, 1995Feb 26, 19951278
Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (2)Feb 27, 1995Apr 9, 199568
Steffi Graf (6)Apr 10, 1995May 14, 19955283
Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (3)May 15, 1995Jun 11, 1995412
Steffi Graf (7)Jun 12, 1995Aug 14, 19959292
Steffi Graf (7)Aug 15, 1995Nov 3, 199664356
Monica Seles[n 1] (4)177
Steffi Graf (7)Nov 4, 1996Nov 17, 19962358
Steffi Graf (7)Nov 18, 1996Nov 24, 19961359
Monica Seles (5)178
Steffi Graf (7)Nov 25, 1996Mar 30, 199718377
8  Martina Hingis (SUI)Mar 31, 1997Oct 11, 19988080
9  Lindsay Davenport (USA)Oct 12, 1998Feb 7, 19991717
Martina Hingis (2)Feb 8, 1999Jul 4, 199921101
Lindsay Davenport (2)Jul 5, 1999Aug 8, 1999522
Martina Hingis (3)Aug 9, 1999Apr 2, 200034135
Lindsay Davenport (3)Apr 3, 2000May 7, 2000527
Martina Hingis (4)May 8, 2000May 14, 20001136
Lindsay Davenport (4)May 15, 2000May 21, 2000128
Martina Hingis (5)May 22, 2000Oct 14, 200173209
10  Jennifer Capriati (USA)Oct 15, 2001Nov 4, 200133
Lindsay Davenport (5)Nov 5, 2001Jan 13, 20021038
Jennifer Capriati (2)Jan 14, 2002Feb 24, 200269
11  Venus Williams (USA)Feb 25, 2002Mar 17, 200233
Jennifer Capriati (3)Mar 18, 2002Apr 21, 2002514
Venus Williams (2)Apr 22, 2002May 19, 200247
Jennifer Capriati (4)May 20, 2002Jun 9, 2002317
Venus Williams (3)Jun 10, 2002Jul 7, 2002411
12  Serena Williams (USA)Jul 8, 2002Aug 10, 20035757
13  Kim Clijsters (BEL)Aug 11, 2003Oct 19, 20031010
14  Justine Henin (BEL)Oct 20, 2003Oct 26, 200311
Kim Clijsters (2)Oct 27, 2003Nov 9, 2003212
Justine Henin (2)Nov 10, 2003Sep 12, 20044445
15  Amélie Mauresmo (FRA)Sep 13, 2004Oct 17, 200455
Lindsay Davenport (6)Oct 18, 2004Aug 21, 20054482
16  Maria Sharapova (RUS)Aug 22, 2005Aug 28, 200511
Lindsay Davenport (7)Aug 29, 2005Sep 11, 2005284
Maria Sharapova (2)Sep 12, 2005Oct 23, 200567
Lindsay Davenport (8)Oct 24, 2005Jan 29, 20061498
Kim Clijsters (3)Jan 30, 2006Mar 19, 2006719
Amélie Mauresmo (2)Mar 20, 2006Nov 12, 20063439
Justine Henin (3)Nov 13, 2006Jan 28, 20071156
Maria Sharapova (3)Jan 29, 2007Mar 18, 2007714
Justine Henin (4)Mar 19, 2007May 18, 200861117
Maria Sharapova (4)May 19, 2008Jun 8, 2008317
17  Ana Ivanovic (SRB)Jun 9, 2008Aug 10, 200899
18  Jelena Janković (SRB)Aug 11, 2008Aug 17, 200811
Ana Ivanovic (2)Aug 18, 2008Sep 7, 2008312
Serena Williams (2)Sep 8, 2008Oct 5, 2008461
Jelena Janković (2)Oct 6, 2008Feb 1, 20091718
Serena Williams (3)Feb 2, 2009Apr 19, 20091172
19  Dinara Safina (RUS)Apr 20, 2009Oct 11, 20092525
Serena Williams (4)Oct 12, 2009Oct 25, 2009274
Dinara Safina (2)Oct 26, 2009Nov 1, 2009126
Serena Williams (5)Nov 2, 2009Oct 10, 201049123
20  Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)Oct 11, 2010Feb 13, 20111818
Kim Clijsters (4)Feb 14, 2011Feb 20, 2011120
Caroline Wozniacki (2)Feb 21, 2011Jan 29, 20124967
21  Victoria Azarenka (BLR)Jan 30, 2012Jun 10, 20121919
Maria Sharapova (5)Jun 11, 2012Jul 8, 2012421
Victoria Azarenka (2)Jul 9, 2012Feb 17, 20133251
Serena Williams (6)Feb 18, 2013Sep 11, 2016186309
22  Angelique Kerber (GER)Sep 12, 2016Jan 29, 20172020
Serena Williams (7)Jan 30, 2017Mar 19, 20177316
Angelique Kerber (2)Mar 20, 2017Apr 23, 2017525
Serena Williams (8)Apr 24, 2017May 14, 20173319
Angelique Kerber (3)May 15, 2017Jul 16, 2017934
23  Karolína Plíšková (CZE)Jul 17, 2017Sep 10, 201788
24  Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP)Sep 11, 2017Oct 8, 201744
25  Simona Halep (ROU)Oct 9, 2017Jan 28, 20181616
Caroline Wozniacki (3)Jan 29, 2018Feb 25, 2018471
Simona Halep (2)Feb 26, 2018Jan 27, 20194864
26  Naomi Osaka (JPN)Jan 28, 2019Jun 23, 20192121
27  Ashleigh Barty (AUS)Jun 24, 2019Aug 11, 201977
Naomi Osaka (2)Aug 12, 2019Sep 8, 2019425
Ashleigh Barty (2)Sep 9, 2019Mar 22, 20202835
Rankings frozen
Mar 23, 2020Aug 9, 202020
Ashleigh Barty (2)Aug 10, 2020Apr 3, 202286121
28  Iga Świątek (POL)Apr 4, 2022Sep 10, 20237575
29 Aryna Sabalenka[a]Sep 11, 2023Nov 5, 202388
Iga Świątek (2)Nov 6, 2023Present26101

Weeks at No. 1

Total

No.PlayerWeeks
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 Iga Świątek101
10 Lindsay Davenport98
11 Caroline Wozniacki71
12 Simona Halep64
13 Victoria Azarenka51
14 Amélie Mauresmo39
15 Angelique Kerber34
16 Dinara Safina26
17 Naomi Osaka25
18 Tracy Austin21
Maria Sharapova
20 Kim Clijsters20
21 Jelena Janković18
22 Jennifer Capriati17
23 Arantxa Sánchez Vicario12
Ana Ivanovic
25 Venus Williams11
26 Karolína Plíšková8
Aryna Sabalenka
28 Garbiñe Muguruza4
29 Evonne Goolagong Cawley2
Active players – current No. 1 in bold.

Consecutive

No.PlayerWeeks
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 Iga Świątek75
13 Martina Hingis (2)73
14 Monica Seles (2)64
15 Justine Henin61
16 Serena Williams (2)57
17 Serena Williams (3)49
Caroline Wozniacki
19 Simona Halep48
20 Justine Henin (2)44
Lindsay Davenport
Current streak in bold.

Weeks are updated automatically.[5][6]
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 spanLeaderDate achievedDurationRecord
1975–1985 Chris Evert3 November 19759 years, 6 months238
1985–1985 Martina Navratilova27 May 198528 days240
1985–1986 Chris Evert24 June 19859 months260
1986–1996 Martina Navratilova31 March 198610 years, 1 month332
1996–Present Steffi Graf21 May 199627 years, 11 months377

Current record in bold.

No. 1 leaders timeline

Chris EvertMartina NavratilovaChris EvertMartina NavratilovaSteffi Graf

Year-end No. 1 players

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

By year

YearPlayer
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 (FRG)
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)

By year (continued)

YearPlayer
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 (SRB)
2009 Serena Williams (2)
2010  Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)
2011 Caroline Wozniacki (2)
2012  Victoria Azarenka (BLR)
2013 Serena Williams (3)
2014* Serena Williams (4)
2015* Serena Williams (5)
2016  Angelique Kerber (GER)
2017  Simona Halep (ROU)
2018 Simona Halep (2)
2019  Ashleigh Barty (AUS)
2020* Ashleigh Barty (2)
2021* Ashleigh Barty (3)
2022  Iga Świątek (POL)
2023 Iga Świątek (2)
2024
*Player was ranked No. 1 throughout the calendar year.

Per player

No.Total
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
Iga Świątek
1 Jelena Janković
Victoria Azarenka
Angelique Kerber
No.Consecutive
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
Iga Świątek

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

PlayerFirst ranked No. 1First Grand Slam finalFirst Grand Slam title
Kim ClijstersAugust 11, 20032001 French Open (June 2001) (1st of 8)2005 US Open (1st of 4, retired in 2022)
Amélie MauresmoSeptember 13, 20041999 Australian Open (January 1999) (1st of 3)2006 Australian Open (1st of 2, retired in 2009)
Jelena JankovićAugust 11, 20082008 US Open (September 2008) (only final)None (retired in 2017)
Dinara SafinaApril 20, 20092008 French Open (June 2008) (1st of 3)None (retired in 2014)
Caroline WozniackiOctober 11, 20102009 US Open (September 2009) (1st of 3)2018 Australian Open (only title, still active)
Karolína PlíškováJuly 17, 20172016 US Open (September 2016) (1st of 2)None (still active)
Simona HalepOctober 9, 20172014 French Open (June 2014) (1st of 5)2018 French Open (1st of 2, still active)

Time span between first and last dates No. 1 was held

  Current No. 1 player (date and age are updated automatically).
  • Active players and age records indicated in bold.
Time spanPlayerFirst held No. 1Last held No. 1
DateAgeDateAge
14 years, 310 days Serena WilliamsJul 8, 200220 years, 285 daysMay 14, 201735 years, 230 days
10 years, 21 days Chris EvertNov 3, 197520 years, 317 daysNov 24, 198530 years, 338 days
9 years, 225 days Steffi GrafAug 17, 198718 years, 64 daysMar 30, 199727 years, 289 days
9 years, 37 days Martina NavratilovaJul 10, 197821 years, 265 daysAug 16, 198730 years, 302 days
7 years, 193 days Kim ClijstersAug 11, 200320 years, 64 daysFeb 20, 201127 years, 257 days
7 years, 137 days Caroline WozniackiOct 11, 201020 years, 92 daysFeb 25, 201827 years, 229 days
7 years, 109 days Lindsay DavenportOct 12, 199822 years, 126 daysJan 29, 200629 years, 235 days
6 years, 321 days Maria SharapovaAug 22, 200518 years, 125 daysJul 8, 201225 years, 80 days
5 years, 258 days Monica SelesMar 11, 199117 years, 99 daysNov 24, 199622 years, 358 days
4 years, 211 days Justine HeninOct 20, 200321 years, 141 daysMay 18, 200825 years, 352 days
4 years, 197 days Martina HingisMar 31, 199716 years, 182 daysOct 14, 200121 years, 14 days
2 years, 283 days Ashleigh BartyJun 24, 201923 years, 61 daysApr 3, 202225 years, 344 days
2 years, 60 days Amélie MauresmoSep 13, 200425 years, 70 daysNov 12, 200627 years, 130 days
2 years, 25 days Iga ŚwiątekApr 4, 202220 years, 308 daysApril 29, 202422 years, 334 days
1 year, 110 days Simona HalepOct 9, 201726 years, 12 daysJan 27, 201927 years, 122 days
1 year, 18 days Victoria AzarenkaJan 30, 201222 years, 183 daysFeb 17, 201323 years, 201 days
307 days Angelique KerberSep 12, 201628 years, 238 daysJul 16, 201729 years, 179 days
237 days Jennifer CapriatiOct 15, 200125 years, 200 daysJun 9, 200226 years, 72 days
224 days Tracy AustinApr 7, 198017 years, 117 daysNov 17, 198017 years, 341 days
223 days Naomi OsakaJan 28, 201921 years, 104 daysSep 8, 201921 years, 327 days
195 days Dinara SafinaApr 20, 200922 years, 358 daysNov 1, 200923 years, 188 days
174 days Jelena JankovićAug 11, 200823 years, 165 daysFeb 1, 200923 years, 339 days
132 days Venus WilliamsFeb 25, 200221 years, 253 daysJul 7, 200222 years, 20 days
125 days Arantxa Sánchez VicarioFeb 6, 199523 years, 50 daysJun 11, 199523 years, 175 days
90 days Ana IvanovicJun 9, 200820 years, 216 daysSep 7, 200820 years, 306 days
55 days Karolína PlíškováJul 17, 201725 years, 118 daysSep 10, 201725 years, 173 days
Aryna SabalenkaSep 11, 202325 years, 129 daysNov 5, 202325 years, 184 days
27 days Garbiñe MuguruzaSep 11, 201723 years, 338 daysOct 8, 201724 years, 0 days
13 days Evonne Goolagong CawleyApr 26, 197624 years, 270 daysMay 9, 197624 years, 283 days

Weeks at No. 1 by decade

  • Current No. 1 player indicated in italic.
57 
Navratilova
 Goolagong Cawley

1980s

275 
Navratilova
124 
Graf
102 
Evert
21 
Austin

1990s

253 
Graf
178 
Seles
122 
Hingis
22 
Davenport
12 
Sánchez Vicario

2000s

117 
Henin
87 
Hingis
83 
S Williams
76 
Davenport
39 
Mauresmo
26 
Safina
19 
Clijsters
18 
Janković
17 
Capriati, Sharapova
12 
 Ivanovic
11 
 V Williams

2010s

236 
S Williams
71 
Wozniacki
64 
Halep
51 
Azarenka
34 
Kerber
25 
Osaka
24 
Barty
Plíšková
 Muguruza, Sharapova
 Clijsters

2020s

WTA rankings were frozen from March 23, 2020 to August 9, 2020.

101 
Świątek
97 
Barty
Sabalenka
  • Stats are automatically updated on Mondays (UTC).

Weeks at No. 1 by country

  • Current No. 1 player indicated in bold.
No.CountryTotalPlayers
PlayersWeeks
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  Poland1101Iga Świątek
8  Denmark171Caroline Wozniacki
9  Romania164Simona Halep
10  Belarus[a]151Victoria Azarenka
11  Russia247Maria Sharapova, Dinara Safina
12  France139Amélie Mauresmo
13  Japan125Naomi Osaka
14  Spain216Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Garbiñe Muguruza
15  Czech Republic18Karolína Plíšková

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

See also

Notes

References