The first month of the 2024 season was a big one with Aryna Sabalenka defending her Australian Open crown and rising up the UTR rankings to No. 2 (after ending the 2023 season at No. 6).
Even more impressive is teenager Mirra Andreeva as she enjoys her first time in the Top 10. The 16-year-old reached the quarterfinals in Brisbane before making a run to the fourth round in Melbourne.
January 2024 Top 10 Women’s Tennis Players by UTR Rating
1. Iga Swiatek (UTR Rating 13.22)
2. Aryna Sabalenka (12.92)
3. Coco Gauff (12.89)
4. Elena Rybakina (12.88)
5. Jessica Pegula (12.86)
6. Madison Keys (12.83)
7. Karolina Muchova (12.79)
8. Elina Svitolina (12.71)
9. Paula Badosa (12.69)
10. Mirra Andreeva (12.69)*
* Simona Halep would be ranked No. 6 but she remains inactive. UTR Ratings as of February 1, 2024.
2023 Top 10 Women's Tennis Players of the Year by UTR Rating
The Top 10 women’s tennis players by UTR Rating: Who were they in 2023, and who is the favorite to keep leading the top 10 UTR Rating list in 2024?
UTR Sports dives into who are the Top 10 women’s tennis players by UTR Rating, a list that includes the usual suspects, including Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka, but also some surprises.
Top 10 Women’s Tennis Players by UTR Rating
1. Iga Swiatek (UTR Rating 13.30)
No surprise here: Iga Swiatek of Poland tops the Top 10 women’s tennis players by UTR Rating.
Swiatek finished off another dominating year in 2023 that saw her earn WTA Player of the Year honors for the second consecutive year.
Swiatek won her third Grand Slam championship by winning her second consecutive French Open title. She didn’t repeat at the 2023 US Open, falling in the fourth round to 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia.
But Swiatek finished the season strong at the WTA Finals in Mexico, winning her first year-end championship.
2. Coco Gauff (UTR Rating 12.97)
What a second half of the season American Coco Gauff assembled. After she lost in the first round at Wimbledon, it was anyone’s guess how the final four months of the season would go.
But the 19-year-old rebounded to have one of the most memorable North-American hard-court swings in recent memory.
She changed her coaching team, adding Pere Riba and veteran coach Brad Gilbert, and tweaked her game.
Read More: Gauff, Djokovic win 2023 US Open trophies
By the end of September, Gauff had won the Mubadala Citi DC Open in Washington, D.C, the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, and the title she had dreamed about since she was a child, the US Open.
“Dreams come true,” Gauff said. “New York City is the city where dreams are made of.”
3. Jessica Pegula (UTR Rating 12.93)
Jessica Pegula backed up her breakthrough 2022 season with another high-level and consistent year in 2023.
The 29-year-old American won the Montreal title to match her biggest title to date. She also finished as the WTA hard-court match wins leader (43), one better than Swiatek.
But after reaching three major championship quarterfinals in 2022, Pegula reached only one in 2023 and fell to 0-6 in Grand Slam quarterfinals.
She did finish 2023 on a high note, beating Gauff in the semifinals of the WTA Finals before falling to Swiatek in the last match of the year.
Everyone: “What is it like playing on tour? It must be so amazing!”
— Jessie Pegula (@JPegula) February 24, 2023
Me: gets bagled on your birthday, sitting eating Doritos at midnight, waiting to get on a 16 hr flight home. 🤣 pic.twitter.com/5YqSZ0xHx5
4. Madison Keys (UTR Rating 12.83)
After a slow start, Madison Keys, like her countrywoman Coco Gauff, turned in one of her better second halves of her pro tennis career.
Keys made her second Wimbledon quarterfinal and second US Open semifinal.
Unfortunately for her, she lost in both matches to Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka.
Particularly tough was the US Open semifinal, where Keys opened the night match in Arthur Ashe Stadium with the best set of her life before falling in three, 0-6, 7-6(1), 7-6(5).
On the positive side, though, Keys finished the season ranked No. 12 in the WTA Rankings, a big improvement from where she had slid to end 2021, No. 56.
5. Elena Rybakina (UTR Rating 12.83)
It’s never a bad year when you end the season at the WTA Finals and win the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
But Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, will aim to improve her showings at the four major championships in 2024.
She reached the Australian Open final but lost to Sabalenka. Rybakina reached only one more quarterfinal (Wimbledon) the rest of the year.
Top 10 Women’s Tennis Players by UTR Rating, Nos. 6-10
6. Aryna Sabalenka (UTR Rating 12.80)
Aryna Sabalenka checked off some monumental milestones in 2023. The Belarusian reached No. 1 in the WTA Rankings for the first time, and she won her first Grand Slam title by beating Rybankina at the 2023 Australian Open.
To boot, Sabalenka matched her best year-end ranking by finishing the season at No. 2. “The best season in my life so far. Hopefully, like, this is just the beginning: with every year I'll play better and better, and the results will be better and better,” Sabalenka said.
7. Karolina Muchova (UTR Rating 12.79)
Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic had the season of her career in 2023. The 27-year-old made three finals, including her first at a major championship at the French Open. She also reached the semifinals of the US Open, falling to eventual champion Coco Gauff.
8. Liudmila Samsonova (UTR Rating 12.72)
Liudmila Samsonova of Russia reached a career-best three finals and notched a win against Rybakina in Montreal, Samsonova’s best win by UTR Rating.
9. Marketa Vondrousova (UTR Rating 12.71)
Marketa Vondrousova won the second title of her career in 2023, and it was a big one: Wimbledon. She had last won a title in 2017, but had performed well on the big stages of late, including a 2019 final run at the French Open.
10. Maria Sakkari (UTR Rating 12.63)
With Paula Badosa (UTR Rating 12.66) inactive since Wimbledon, Maria Sakkari gets the tenth spot. By the Greek’s standards, Sakkari struggled in 2023, particularly at major championships. She went 2-4 at the four major championships, losing in the first round three times.
But hopeful signs emerged toward the end of 2023. In late September, Sakkari didn’t drop a set en route to her first WTA 1000 title in Guadalajara. She also ended a six-match losing skid in finals that dated back to Rabat in May 2019.
UTR Ratings as of December 14, 2023.