WTA Top 20 Year End Singles Rankings 1989-2010 ...see also WTA Current Top 20

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1989 Women's International Tennis Association
"Virginia Slims Rankings" 11/20/89
ranked by average points
rank namenationpoints
1 Steffi Graf FRG 300.9980
2 Martina Navratilova USA 208.1995
3 Gabriela Sabatini ARG 166.5597
4 Zina Garrison USA 128.4947
5 Arantxa Sanchez ESP 121.2214
6 Monica Seles YUG 117.2153
7 Conchita Martinez ESP 87.8854
8 Helena Sukova TCH 87.3127
9 Manuela Maleeva BUL 84.0804
10 Chris Evert USA 79.7917
11 Jana Novotna TCH 74.7833
12 Mary Joe Fernandez USA 71.5744
13 Helen Kelesi CAN 52.7489
14 Hana Mandlikova AUS 51.1944
15 Katerina Maleeva BUL 51.1071
16 Catarina Lindqvist SWE 46.6842
17 Pam Shriver USA 46.0357
18 Belinda Cordwell NZL 44.7692
19 Laura Gildemeister PER 44.4286
20 Larisa Savchenko URS 43.2813

Complete Rankings, .pdf
 1990 Women's Tennis Association
"Virginia Slims Rankings" 11/26/90
ranked by average points
rank namenationpoints
1 Steffi Graf FRG 278.1021
2 Monica Seles YUG 203.7537
3 Martina Navratilova USA 199.4231
4 Mary Joe Fernandez USA 147.0286
5 Gabriela Sabatini ARG 137.0174
6 Katerina Maleeva BUL 115.8375
7 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario ESP 112.6067
8 Jennifer Capriati USA 103.4132
9 Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere SUI 103.1532
10 Zina Garrison USA 100.5247
11 Conchita Martinez ESP 98.5629
12 Natalia Zvereva URS 77.5000
13 Jana Novotna TCH 77.2556
14 Helena Sukova TCH 77.1402
15 Barbara Paulus AUT 69.9286
16 Amy Frazier USA 64.0667
17 Judith Wiesner AUT 62.7778
18 Nathalie Tauziat FRA 60.3500
19 Leila Meskhi URS 53.7500
20 Sandra Cecchini ITA 41.8000

Complete Rankings, .pdf
 1991 Women's Tennis Association
"Virginia Slims Rankings" 11/25/91
ranked by average points
rank namenationpoints
1 Monica Seles YUG 277.1500
2 Steffi Graf FRG 219.2929
3 Gabriela Sabatini ARG 200.0625
4 Martina Navratilova USA 191.1209
5 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario ESP153.4042
6 Jennifer Capriati USA 142.9872
7 Jana Novotna TCH 108.5754
8 Mary Joe Fernandez USA 100.9980
9 Conchita Martinez ESP 95.0357
10 Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere SUI 87.6250
11 Katerina Maleeva BUL 74.8938
12 Zina Garrison USA 66.4118
13 Nathalie Tauziat FRA 64.6053
14 Anke Huber FRG 62.2143
15 Leila Meskhi URS 61.2333
16 Judith Wiesner AUT 58.8929
17 Helena Sukova TCH 56.7500
18 Sabine Appelmans BEL 50.8813
19 Lori McNeil USA 45.6727
20 Julie Halard FRA 44.9391

Complete Rankings, .pdf
 1992 Women's Tennis Association
"Virginia Slims Rankings" 11/23/92
ranked by average points
rank namenationpoints
1 Monica Seles YUG 283.9373
2 Steffi Graf GER 252.1627
3 Gabriela Sabatini ARG 192.6851
4 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario ESP 177.4134
5 Martina Navratilova USA 171.1923
6 Mary Joe Fernandez USA 120.6983
7 Jennifer Capriati USA 98.0787
8 Conchita Martinez ESP 96.8043
9 Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere SUI 81.4120
10 Jana Novotna TCH 78.1221
11 Anke Huber GER 66.5333
12 Helena Sukova TCH 66.2358
13 Mary Pierce FRA 64.8333
14 Nathalie Tauziat FRA 59.0709
15 Lori McNeil USA 58.5140
16 Katerina Maleeva BUL 57.5302
17 Amanda Coetzer RSA 55.5200
18 Zina Garrison-Jackson USA 54.4668
19 Amy Frazier USA 54.0471
20 Magdalena Maleeva BUL 53.0533

Complete Rankings, .pdf
 1993 Women's Tennis Association
"Virginia Slims Rankings" 12/27/93
ranked by average points
rank namenationpoints
1 Steffi Graf GER 409.1746
2 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario ESP 243.5556
3 Martina Navratilova USA 221.4989
4 Conchita Martinez ESP 192.3314
5 Gabriela Sabatini ARG 146.4048
6 Jana Novotna CZE 145.1179
7 Mary Joe Fernandez USA 138.2162
8 Monica Seles YUG 133.5178
9 Jennifer Capriati USA 126.3750
10 Anke Huber GER 124.5625
11 Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere SUI 103.5505
12 Mary Pierce FRA 93.6875
13 Kimiko Date JPN 89.2917
14 Zina Garrison Jackson USA 86.2291
15 Amanda Coetzer RSA 85.8500
16 Magdalena Maleeva BUL 84.9667
17 Helena Sukova CZE 82.0698
18 Nathalie Tauziat FRA 79.8320
19 Natalia Zvereva BLR 73.0000
20 Lindsay Davenport USA 63.8125

Complete Rankings, .pdf
 1994 WTA Tour
"Virginia Slims Rankings" 11/21/94
ranked by average points
rank namenationpoints
1 Steffi Graf GER 353.2966
2 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario ESP 311.7073
3 Conchita Martinez ESP 180.2141
4 Jana Novotna CZE 164.0995
5 Mary Pierce FRA 155.7375
6 Lindsay Davenport USA 141.9000
7 Gabriela Sabatini ARG 138.4333
8 Martina Navratilova USA 134.6079
9 Kimiko Date JPN 124.7929
10 Natalia Zvereva BLR 123.9882
11 Magdalena Maleeva BUL 94.8929
12 Anke Huber GER 94.4017
13 Iva Majoli CRO 84.5278
14 Mary Joe Fernandez USA 81.4417
15 Brenda Schultz NED 76.9500
16 Amy Frazier USA 72.6250
17 Lori McNeil USA 71.0625
18 Amanda Coetzer RSA 68.9283
19 Sabine Hack GER 67.9722
20 Ines Gorrochategui ARG 67.7167

Complete Rankings, .pdf
 1995 WTA Tour
"Corel WTA Tour Rankings - Singles" 12/25/95
ranked by average points
rank namenationpoints
1 Steffi Graf GER 393.2500 -- * 1 Monica Seles USA Co-ranked #1 on 6 tourneys
2 Conchita Martinez ESP 255.6026
3 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario ESP 228.7721
4 Kimiko Date JPN 165.1314
5 Mary Pierce FRA 159.8320
6 Magdalena Maleeva BUL 149.0357
7 Gabriela Sabatini ARG 147.5239
8 Mary Joe Fernandez USA 136.6660
9 Iva Majoli CRO 135.3165
10 Anke Huber GER 129.6438
11 Jana Novotna CZE 125.5905
12 Lindsay Davenport USA 112.0667
13 Brenda Schultz-McCarthy NED 99.9412
14 Natasha Zvereva BLR 93.7059
15 Chanda Rubin USA 91.6389
16 Martina Hingis SUI 70.5417
17 Naoko Sawamatsu JPN 69.2154
18 Amy Frazier USA 66.1750
19 Amanda Coetzer RSA 62.2826
20 Lisa Raymond USA 59.8188

most tourneys played: 22, avg=17.4
Complete Rankings, .pdf
 1996 WTA Tour
"Corel WTA Tour Rankings - Singles" 12/30/96
best points of up to 18 tourneys/past 52 weeks
rank namenationpoints
1 Steffi Graf GER 4649.0000
2 Monica Seles USA 4056.1083
3 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario ESP 3668.1871
4 Conchita Martinez ESP 3180.9710
5 Jana Novotna CZE 3087.9412
6 Martina Hingis SUI 3051.0000
7 Anke Huber GER 2689.5388
8 Iva Majoli CRO 2647.7820
9 Lindsay Davenport USA 2357.0667
10 Irina Spirlea ROM 1748.7950
11 Karina Habsudova SVK 1707.0182
12 Brenda Schultz-McCarthy NED 1559.3799
13 Barbara Paulus AUT 1492.2813
14 Amanda Coetzer RSA 1484.0009
15 Judith Wiesner AUT 1451.5810
16 Mary Joe Fernandez USA 1212.5113
17 Chanda Rubin USA 1187.2426
18 Elena Likhovtseva RUS 1182.2240
19 Magdalena Maleeva BUL 1126.3690
20 Julie Halard-Decugis FRA 1111.5944

Complete Rankings, .pdf
 1997 WTA Tour
"Corel WTA Tour Rankings - Singles" 11/24/97
best points of up to 18 tourneys/past 52 weeks
rank namenationpoints
1 Martina Hingis SUI 6264
2 Jana Novotna CZE 3753
3 Lindsay Davenport USA 3696
4 Amanda Coetzer RSA 3360
5 Monica Seles USA 2988
6 Iva Majoli CRO 2874.50
7 Mary Pierce FRA 2861
8 Irina Spirlea ROM 2577
9 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario ESP 2361
10 Mary Joe Fernandez USA 2114
11 Nathalie Tauziat FRA 2003
12 Conchita Martinez ESP 1988.50
13 Sandrine Testud FRA 1841
14 Anke Huber GER 1829
15 Brenda Schultz-McCarthy NED 1543
16 Sabine Appelmans BEL 1502
17 Lisa Raymond USA 1437
18 Dominique Van Roost BEL 1394
19 Ruxandra Dragomir ROM 1333
20 Ai Sugiyama JPN 1252

most tourneys played: 27, avg=20.8
Complete Rankings, .pdf
 1998 WTA Tour
"Corel WTA Tour Singles Rankings" 11/23/98
best points of up to 18 tourneys/past 52 weeks
rank namenationpoints
1 Lindsay Davenport USA 5654
2 Martina Hingis SUI 5366
3 Jana Novotna CZE 3734
4 Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario ESP 3417
5 Venus Williams USA 3262
6 Monica Seles USA 3226
7 Mary Pierce FRA 2414
8 Conchita Martinez ESP 2331
9 Steffi Graf GER 2261
10 Nathalie Tauziat FRA 2259
11 Patty Schnyder SUI 2256
12 Dominique Van Roost BEL 2073
13 Anna Kournikova RUS 1971
14 Sandrine Testud FRA 1898
15 Irina Spirlea ROM 1830
16 Natasha Zvereva BLR 1770
17 Amanda Coetzer RSA 1752
18 Ai Sugiyama JPN 1398
19 Silvia Farina ITA 1389
20 Serena Williams USA 1301

Complete Rankings, .pdf
 1999 WTA Tour
"WTA Tour Singles Rankings" 12/27/99
best points of up to 18 tourneys/past 52 weeks
rank namenationpoints
1 Martina Hingis SUI 6074
2 Lindsay Davenport USA 4841
3 Venus Williams USA 4378
4 Serena Williams USA 3021
5 Mary Pierce FRA 2658
6 Monica Seles USA 2310
7 Nathalie Tauziat FRA 2213
8 Barbara Schett AUT 2188
9 Julie Halard-Decugis FRA 1977
10 Amelie Mauresmo FRA 1906
11 Amanda Coetzer RSA 1846
12 Anna Kournikova RUS 1641
13 Sandrine Testud FRA 1635
14 Dominique Van Roost BEL 1621
15 Conchita Martinez ESP 1564
16 Anke Huber GER 1548
17 Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario ESP 1435
18 Elena Likhovtseva RUS 1393
19 Amy Frazier USA 1299
20 Ruxandra Dragomir ROM 1291

Complete Rankings, .pdf
 2000 WTA Tour
"Sanex WTA Tour Singles Rankings" 12/25/00
best points of up to 17 tourneys/past 52 weeks
rank namenationpoints
1 Martina Hingis SUI 6044
2 Lindsay Davenport USA 5021
3 Venus Williams USA 3694
4 Monica Seles USA 3255
5 Conchita Martinez ESP 2752
6 Serena Williams USA 2306
7 Mary Pierce FRA 2162
8 Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario ESP 2131
9 Anna Kournikova RUS 2098
10 Nathalie Tauziat FRA 1918
11 Elena Dementieva RUS 1773
12 Amanda Coetzer RSA 1752
13 Chanda Rubin USA 1722
14 Jennifer Capriati USA 1663
15 Julie Halard-Decugis FRA 1435
16 Amelie Mauresmo FRA 1426
17 Sandrine Testud FRA 1413
18 Kim Clijsters BEL 1398
19 Anke Huber GER 1369
20 Amy Frazier USA 1254

Complete Rankings, .pdf
 2001 WTA Tour
"Sanex WTA Tour Singles Rankings" 11/12/01
best points of up to 17 tourneys/past 52 weeks
rank namenationpoints
1 Lindsay Davenport USA 4902
2 Jennifer Capriati USA 4892
3 Venus Williams USA 4128
4 Martina Hingis SUI 3944
5 Kim Clijsters BEL 3265
6 Serena Williams USA 3004
7 Justine Henin BEL 2989
8 Jelena Dokic YUG 2780
9 Amelie Mauresmo FRA 2765
10 Monica Seles USA 2306
11 Sandrine Testud FRA 2056
12 Meghann Shaughnessy USA 1833
13 Nathalie Tauziat FRA 1754
14 Silvia Farina Elia ITA 1738
15 Elena Dementieva RUS 1576
16 Magdalena Maleeva BUL 1571
17 Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario ESP 1548
18 Anke Huber GER 1495
19 Amanda Coetzer RSA 1474
20 Iroda Tulyaganova UZB 1166

Complete Rankings, .pdf
 2002 WTA Tour
"Sanex WTA Tour Singles Rankings" 11/12/02
best points of up to 17 tourneys/past 52 weeks
rank namenationpoints
1 Serena Williams USA 6080
2 Venus Williams USA 5140
3 Jennifer Capriati USA 3796
4 Kim Clijsters BEL 3557
5 Justine Henin BEL 3218
6 Amelie Mauresmo FRA 3068
7 Monica Seles USA 2952
8 Daniela Hantuchova SVK 2667.75
9 Jelena Dokic YUG 2506
10 Martina Hingis SUI 2348
11 Anastasia Myskina RUS 1908
12 Lindsay Davenport USA 1795
13 Chanda Rubin USA 1752
14 Magdalena Maleeva BUL 1701
15 Patty Schnyder SUI 1644
16 Anna Smashnova ISR 1616.50
17 Silvia Farina Elia ITA 1596
18 Alexandra Stevenson USA 1444
19 Elena Dementieva RUS 1426
20 Nathalie Dechy FRA 1295

Complete Rankings, .pdf
 2003 WTA Tour
"WTA Tour Singles Rankings" 11/10/03
best points of up to 17 tourneys/past 52 weeks
rank namenationpoints% of #1
1 Justine Henin-Hardenne BEL 6628
2 Kim Clijsters BEL 655398.9%
3 Serena Williams USA 391659.1%
4 Amelie Mauresmo FRA 319448.2%
5 Lindsay Davenport USA 299045.1%
6 Jennifer Capriati USA 276641.7%
7 Anastasia Myskina RUS 258138.9%
8 Elena Dementieva RUS 238336.0%
9 Chanda Rubin USA 232835.1%
10 Ai Sugiyama JAP 223533.7%
11 Venus Williams USA 221133.4%
12 Nadia Petrova RUS 1994.2530.1%
13 Vera Zvonareva RUS 180827.3%
14 Paola Suarez ARG 152623.0%
15 Jelena Dokic YUG 140521.2%
16 Anna Smashnova-Pistolesi ISR 135320.4%
17 Meghann Shaughnessy USA 135020.4%
18 Conchita Martinez ESP 131619.9%
19 Daniela Hantuchova SVK 127119.2%
20 Francesca Schiavone ITA 126519.1%

Complete Rankings, .pdf
 2004 WTA Tour
"WTA Tour Singles Rankings" 12/27/04
best points of up to 17 tourneys/past 52 weeks
rank namenationpoints% of #1
1 Lindsay Davenport USA 4760
2 Amelie Mauresmo FRA 454695.5%
3 Anastasia Myskina RUS 401284.3%
4 Maria Sharapova RUS 353674.3%
5 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS 353374.2%
6 Elena Dementieva RUS 344872.4%
7 Serena Williams USA 312865.7%
8 Justine Henin-Hardenne BEL 288460.6%
9 Venus Williams USA 240050.4%
10 Jennifer Capriati USA 235949.6%
11 Vera Zvonareva RUS 229948.3%
12 Nadia Petrova RUS 202242.5%
13 Alicia Molik AUS 1970.7541.4%
14 Patty Schnyder SUI 163834.4%
15 Elena Bovina RUS 159833.6%
16 Paola Suarez ARG 153532.2%
17 Ai Sugiyama JAP 146930.9%
18 Karolina Sprem CRO 1451.7530.5%
19 Francesca Schiavone ITA 140329.5%
20 Silvia Farina Elia ITA 133428.0%

Complete Rankings, .pdf
 2005 WTA Tour
"Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Singles Rankings" 12/19/05
best points of up to 17 tourneys/past 52 weeks
rank namenationpoints% of #1
1 Lindsay Davenport USA 4910
2 Kim Clijsters BEL 482998.3%
3 Amelie Mauresmo FRA 403082.1%
4 Maria Sharapova RUS 395880.6%
5 Mary Pierce FRA 379777.3%
6 Justine Henin-Hardenne BEL 293659.8%
7 Patty Schnyder SUI 277456.5%
8 Elena Dementieva RUS 274856.0%
9 Nadia Petrova RUS 263853.7%
10 Venus Williams USA 262853.5%
11 Serena WilliamsUSA 185137.7%
12 Nathalie Dechy FRA 177336.1%
13 Francesca Schiavone ITA 169934.6%
14 Anastasia Myskina RUS 161632.9%
15 Nicole Vaidisova CZE 158132.2%
16 Ana Ivanovic SCG 155131.6%
17 Elena Likhovtseva RUS 151930.9%
18 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS 149130.4%
19 Daniela Hantuchova SVK 148630.3%
20 Dinara Safina RUS 137227.9%

Complete Rankings, .pdf
 2000-2005
best points of up to 17 tourneys/
past 52 weeks
rank highest lowest average % of #1
1 6628 4760 5554
2 6553 4546 5163.593.0%
3 4128 3694 3929.3370.7%
4 3958 3194 357464.4%
5 3797 2752 3259.1758.7%
6 3448 2306 2921.3352.6%
7 3128 2162 2764.3349.8%
8 2884 2131 2598.9646.8%
9 2765 2098 2455.8344.2%
10 2628 1918 229941.4%
11 2299 1773 2016.3336.3%
12 2022 1752 1861.5433.5%
13 1970.75 1699 1784.2929.7%
14 1738 1526 164729.7%
15 1644 1405 1539.8328.3%
16 1616.50 1353 1508.7527.1%
17 1596 1350 1482.526.7%
18 1495 1316 1432.6325.8%
19 1486 1271 1404.8325.3%
20 1372 1166 128123.1%
 2006 WTA Tour
"Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Singles Rankings" 12/11/06
best points of up to 17 tourneys/past 52 weeks*
rank namenationpoints% of #1
1 Justine Henin-Hardenne BEL 3998
2 Maria Sharapova RUS 353288.3%
3 Amelie Mauresmo FRA 339184.8%
4 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS 252363.1%
5 Kim Clijsters BEL 221555.4%
6 Nadia Petrova RUS 218954.8%
7 Martina Hingis SUI 201850.5%
8 Elena Dementieva RUS 187546.9%
9 Patty Schnyder SUI 157839.5%
10 Nicole Vaidisova CZE 139134.8%
11 Dinara Safina RUS 139034.8%
12 Jelena Jankovic SRB 121130.3%
13 Anna Chakvetadze RUS 114428.6%
14 Ana Ivanovic SRB 105326.3%
15 Francesca Schiavone ITA 103225.8%
16 Anastasia Myskina RUS 100025.0%
17 Marion Bartoli FRA 98824.7%
18 Daniela Hantuchova SVK 98624.7%
19 Anna-Lena Groenefeld GER 92223.1%
20 Shahar Peer ISR 89422.4%

* Quality Points were eliminated in 2006
Complete Rankings, .pdf
 2007 WTA Tour
"Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Singles Rankings" 12/24/07
best points of up to 17 tourneys/past 52 weeks*
rank namenationpoints% of #1
1 Justine Henin BEL 6155
2 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS 372560.5%
3 Jelena Jankovic SRB 347556.5%
4 Ana Ivanovic SRB 346156.2%
5 Maria Sharapova RUS 295648.0%
6 Anna Chakvetadze RUS 293547.7%
7 Serena Williams USA 280245.5%
8 Venus Williams USA 247040.1%
9 Daniela Hantuchova SVK 236738.5%
10 Marion Bartoli FRA 219135.6%
11 Elena Dementieva RUS 198532.2%
12 Nicole Vaidisova CZE 194234.8%
13 Tatiana Golovin FRA 188231.6%
14 Nadia Petrova RUS 186230.3%
15 Dinara Safina RUS 183029.7%
16 Patty Schnyder SUI 180629.3%
17 Shahar Peer ISR 167527.2%
18 Amelie Mauresmo FRA 153825.0%
19 Sybille Bammer AUT 132321.5%
20 Agnes Szavay HUN 131821.9%

* The Point Scale was raised in 2007
Complete Rankings, .pdf
 2008 WTA Tour
"Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Singles Rankings" 11/23/08
best points of up to 17 tourneys/past 52 weeks
rank namenationpoints% of #1
1 Jelena Jankovic SRB 4710
2 Serena Williams USA 386682.0%
3 Dinara Safina RUS 381781.0%
4 Elena Dementieva RUS 366377.8%
5 Ana Ivanovic SRB 345773.4%
6 Venus Williams USA 327269.5%
7 Vera ZvonarevaRUS 295262.7%
8 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS 272657.9%
9 Maria Sharapova RUS 251553.4%
10 Agnieszka Radwanska POL 228638.5%
11 Nadia Petrova RUS 197642.0%
12 Caroline Wozniacki DEN 171336.7%
13 Flavia Pennetta ITA 167035.5%
14 Patty Schnyder SUI 159033.8%
15 Victoria Azarenka BLR 149431.7%
16 Alize Cornet FRA 149231.7%
17 Marion Bartoli FRA 141029.9%
18 Anna Chakvetadze RUS 136328.9%
19 Dominika Cibulkova SVK 133728.4%
20 Katarina Srebotnik SLO 127227.0%


Complete Rankings, .pdf
 2009 WTA Tour
"Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Singles Rankings" 11/09/09
best points of up to 16 tourneys/past 52 weeks*
rank namenationpoints% of #1
1 Serena Williams USA 9075—
2 Dinara Safina RUS 780086.0%
3 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS 614167.7%
4 Caroline Wozniacki DEN 587564.7%
5 Elena Dementieva RUS 558561.5%
6 Venus Williams USA 512656.5%
7 Victoria Azarenka BLR 482053.1%
8 Jelena Jankovic SRB 398543.9%
9 Vera ZvonarevaRUS 356039.2%
10 Agnieszka Radwanska POL 345038.0%
11 Marion Bartoli FRA 341537.6%
12 Flavia Pennetta ITA 315034.7%
13 Samantha Stosur AUS 304533.6%
14 Maria Sharapova RUS 282031.1%
15 Na Li CHN 254128.0%
16 Yanina Wickmayer BEL 238526.3%
17 Francesca Schiavone ITA 237526.2%
18 Kim Clijsters BEL 234025.8%
19 Virginie Razzano FRA 230025.3%
20 Nadia Petrova RUS 222024.5%

* The Point Scale was raised again in 2009
Complete Rankings, .pdf
 2010 WTA Tour
"WTA Singles Rankings" 11/08/10
best points of up to 16 tourneys/past 52 weeks
rank namenationpoints% of #1
1 Caroline Wozniacki DEN 8035—
2 Vera ZvonarevaRUS 679585%
3 Kim Clijsters BEL 663583%
4 Serena Williams USA 535567%
5 Venus Williams USA 498562%
6 Samantha Stosur AUS 498262%
7 Francesca Schiavone ITA 493561%
8 Jelena Jankovic SRB 444555%
9 Elena Dementieva RUS 433554%
10 Victoria Azarenka BLR 423553%
11 Na Li CHN 355544%
12 Justine Henin BEL 341543%
13 Shahar Peer ISR 336542%
14 Agnieszka Radwanska POL 300037%
15 Nadia Petrova RUS 270234%
16 Marion Bartoli FRA 264533%
17 Ana Ivanovic SRB 260032%
18 Maria Sharapova RUS 259132%
19 Aravane Rezai FRA 257532%
20 Maria Kirilenko RUS 255032%


Complete Rankings, .pdf

    WTA rankings are used to determine which players will get "direct ins" to the main draws of tourneys, that is, which players do not have to go through qualifying rounds, and the order in which players are seeded in the draw.
    The WTA ranking system from 1989 to 1995 used an average points per tournament calculation, which meant that players could drop in the rankings due to a poor performance in a tourney. In 1996 a new system was adopted, whereby players were ranked according to their point totals from the 18 tourneys in the past 52 weeks in which they earned the most points.
    This appears to have led to players playing in more tourneys and getting less rest: in 1995 the most tourneys played by any one top 20 player was 22, and the average for top 20 players was 17.4 (and in earlier years the numbers were similar), while in 1997 the most tourneys played by any one top 20 player was 27, and the average for top 20 players was 20.8 (and since then the numbers have also been similar).

    In 2000 the ranking system was amended to count only points from a player's best 17 tourneys. From 1996 through 2005, in addition to the "round points" used to determine their rankings, WTA players received "quality points" on sliding scale based on the ranks of players they defeated. Starting in 2006, the WTA Tour eliminated quality points from the rankings.

    The main problem with the current system seems to be that a tourney 51 weeks ago counts just as much as a tourney last week, so that players who were doing well last year, but not anymore, can be ranked (and thus seeded) above the players who are currently at their best. This also results in pressure on players who did very well in a particular tourney to "defend" their points the following year; if they don't do as well or better, their ranking will plummet suddenly when the previous year's points are dropped after 52 weeks.

    These problems would be eliminated by adopting a "depreciation" system for ranking points, where players' points from each tourney are reduced by 1/52 of their original value each week after the tourney, so that they gradually fade out over the year instead of suddenly being dropped after 52 weeks. Players would enter tourneys optimistic about earning points, instead of having to worry about defending points. This would also eliminate sudden drops in rankings, and favor more recent performance over last year's record.

How many points could a player earn under the current (2000-2005) system?
    Consider the case of Racquetta Smashcerva, who during the 2044 WTA Tour season (which happened to be identical to the 2004 season*) played every possible week, always at the highest "Tier" tourney of the week (many weeks have more than one tourney; Racquetta always went for the highest prize money). Racquetta, tireless at age 18, won every tournment that she entered. That is 37 tournaments in 43 weeks. Racquetta thus earned 9975 "Round Points" in the 37 tourneys.

    But only Racquetta's 17 best point totals could be included in her ranking. From the 4 Grand Slams, the WTA Championships, all 10 Tier I tourneys, and 2 Tier II tourneys, Racquetta earned 6550 Round Points in 17 tourneys that covered 23 weeks.

    These are all of Racquetta's points under the system adopted at the start of 2006, which does not include "Quality Points". Under the system previously used, Racquetta would also have earned "Quality Points" based on the rankings of the players she defeated at those 17 tourneys (actually the 17 best tourneys are selected based on the player's total of Round Points and Quality Points for each tourney, but Racquetta's simplified case these are the same as the tourneys where she had the most Round Points).

    Amazingly (and conveniently for hypothetical calculations) Racquetta, herself ranked # 1 of course, always defeated the # 2 player in the final, the # 4 player in the semifinal, # 8 in the quarterfinal, # 24 in the round of 16, and in those tourneys where she played additional rounds (Racquetta always gets a 1st round bye in those tourneys that have them) she played # 60 in the round of 32, # 80 in the round of 64, and # 100 in the round of 128 (the 1st round of the Grand Slam tourneys). From all of these victories, Racquetta would have earned a highly unlikely total of 4324 Quality Points.

    Added to her 6550 Round Points, this would give Racquetta Smashcerva a grand total of 10,784 ranking points, a record which would never be broken. Considering how difficult it would be to attain this total, Justine Henin-Hardenne's 6628 points at the end of 2003 is a truly impressive number (Justine had 4282 Round Points and 2346 Quality Points). Also impressive is # 2 Kim Clijsters total of 6553 points (4281 Round Points, 2272 Quality Points), which would have put her at # 1 in any other year of this ranking system.

See "How WTA Rankings Work" (a 4-page .pdf) for a detailed description of the current WTA ranking system.

*The 2004 schedule was changed after this was written, but the numbers are still very similar.


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