The No. 1 spot in the WTA rankings will be up for grabs at the US Open, which will be played from August 28 to September 10 in New York. According to WTAtennis.com, mathematically, eight players have the chance to leave Flushing Meadows with the world No. 1 ranking. Among them are current world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova, No. 2 Simona Halep, Garbine Muguruza, Elina Svitolina, Caroline Wozniacki, Johanna Konta, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Venus Williams.
While she currently holds the No. 1 spot, Pliskova only leads Halep by five points, the narrowest lead in the WTA rankings heading into the US Open since October 19, 2009.
As a finalist last year, Pliskova is defending 1,300 points, meaning anyone can overtake her in the two-week tournament. Halep, for her part, has a target mark of 5,965 points after taking off last year’s US Open points. Even if she loses in the first round, the remaining seven players in the field will have to keep winning to overtake her post-US Open point total. If Halep wins her opening match (6,025 points), Venus will be eliminated from the No.1 chase as she can only earn a maximum point total of 5,976 points with the title.
Halep came up short for No. 1 ranking
In three previous tournaments at the French Open -- Wimbledon and Cincinnati -- Halep had a chance to clinch the No. 1 spot but came up short.
Now, she has a chance to become the first Romanian woman to hold the No. 1 ranking four times this season. For Muguruza, the reigning Wimbledon champion and No. 3 in the world, she must reach the round of 16 to have a shot at the No. 1 spot. However, Muguruza failed to make it past the second round in her US Open campaign. She recently spoiled Halep’s attempt to take the No. 1 spot with a win in the finals of the Western & Southern Open.
Svitolina must reach semifinals to boost chances
The 22-year-old Svitolina must reach the semifinals of the US Open to boost her chance of clinching the No. 1 spot. She currently leads the WTA Tour in terms of titles with five, including the Rogers Cup in Toronto two weeks ago. Pliskova, for her part, needs to reach the finals again to continue her grip on the No.
1 ranking. For Wozniacki, Konta, Kuznetsova, and Venus, they all need to win the crown to get a shot at No. 1.
As of the last tally, Muguruza has 5,860 points, Svitolina 5,650, Caroline Wozniacki 5,350, Konta 4,750, Kuznetsova 4,410, and Venus William has 4,216. The No.1 ranking in doubles is also up for grabs as No. 1 Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova try to fend off challenges from Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina, as well as Martina Hingis and Chan Yung-jan.
