By Marketa Vondrousova,TennisUpToDate.com

Copyright yardbarker

The WTA Asian swing has begun, and after a week of transition, new stars have emerged. Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah and American teenager Iva Jovic notably secured their first professional titles, making a strong jump in the WTA Race and setting them up for a potential year-end ranking.

Meanwhile, the top-10 major stars saw no movement following the US Open. The advantage is clearly with Aryna Sabalenka (9,610 points), who has a lead of over 2,000 points on her closest pursuer, Iga Swiatek (7,534 points). For now, they are the only two players to have qualified for Riyadh, with six spots still up for grabs in the final part of the season.

The American contingent seems poised to claim a good number of the remaining spots. Currently, the qualification cut is at 5,420 points, although this will decrease as more tournaments are played. Roland Garros champion Coco Gauff (3rd, 5,184 points) and Australian Open champion Madison Keys (5th, 4,450 points) are virtually qualified for the finals, as major champions only need to finish the season in the top 20 to secure their spot.

Unlike the general WTA ranking, the Race exclusively measures points earned in the calendar year and will be key in defining the players’ year-end rankings and the 8 players qualified to the Finals in Riyadh.

Sabalenka’s post-US Open lead; Swiatek faces uphill battle

Following Aryna Sabalenka’s US Open title, the season’s conclusion has become much clearer. Her lead of over 2,000 points against Iga Swiatek comes just a couple of weeks after the Pole seemed like a serious threat to the top spot. Swiatek’s quarterfinal loss was another boost for Sabalenka, who will face less pressure in the final stretch of the season and has the first chance to finish the year at the top of the rankings, with only two WTA 1000 events remaining. Swiatek needs to be nearly perfect in the final part of the season if she wants to head to Riyadh with a chance to reclaim the top spot.

Two other spots are virtually locked for the other two 2025 major champions: Coco Gauff (3rd), who could make her fourth consecutive appearance at the Finals and is the defending champion; and Madison Keys (5th), who hopes to make a comeback nine years after her Finals debut.

Americans poised to dominate Final spots; Anisimova and Pegula lead the way

The Americans are in the best position to secure the remaining spots, with Amanda Anisimova (4th, 4,908 points) poised to make her tournament debut this year. The 24-year-old’s back-to-back finals appearances at Wimbledon and the US Open, along with her first WTA 1000 title at the start of the season at the Doha Open, have solidified her position as No. 4 in the Race.

Another player who remains high in the rankings is 31-year-old Jessica Pegula (4,209 points), who is on track for her fourth consecutive WTA Finals appearance thanks to her consistency. Her recent semifinal appearance at the US Open made up for a somewhat inconsistent last month, giving her a boost of confidence for the final part of the season and putting her back into a qualifying position in the Race.

In 7th place is Mirra Andreeva (4,189 points), whose two WTA 1000 titles have put her in a strong position for a potential qualification. The Russian teenager had some disappointments in the North American swing and lost ground to her American rivals, but her high point total from the first half of the season keeps her in the top tier of the rankings. Barring any major surprises, the Russian should be in Riyadh, given that no player with over 4,000 points has ever missed the Finals.

Tight race for Final WTA Finals spot

The 8th place in the Race is wide open, with Elena Rybakina (3,761 points) and Jasmine Paolini (3,526 points) closely competing for that spot. The Kazakh player had a good run to the quarterfinals in New York but was surprised by Marketa Vondrousova. Still, it was enough to earn more points than Paolini, who was eliminated in the third round. They are direct rivals for that coveted 8th spot in the Finals.

Closing out the top-10 is Ekaterina Alexandrova (2,871 points), who seems to be at a significant distance from securing a spot in the Finals (nearly 1,000 points behind Rybakina). However, she is in direct contention to finish the season in the top-10, likely her main goal at this point. The 30-year-old Russian has consistently climbed the rankings and is closer than ever to reaching the elite group, currently positioned at No. 11 with not many points to defend for the rest of the season.

Jovic and Rakotomanga make huge Jumps

The player who advanced the most in the Race this past week was 17-year-old teenager Iva Jovic, after winning her first professional title at the WTA 500 Guadalajara Open, defeating the surprise finalist Emiliana Arango. Jovic was not even in the top-100 of the Race, but after the best week of her career, she is now at No. 56. The American has guaranteed direct entry into major tournaments for the rest of the year and early 2026, so we will be seeing her more frequently in main draws. Similarly, finalist Arango reached No. 59 in the Race, moving up over 30 places.

The other champion of the week was 19-year-old French player Rakotomanga. She won the WTA 250 SP Open title in Brazil and is now positioned at No. 114 in the Race. The jump in the final part of the season is also excellent for the teenager, and she could be another name we get used to seeing in majors in 2026.