{"id":454412,"date":"2026-02-02T22:03:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T22:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/454412\/"},"modified":"2026-02-02T22:03:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T22:03:10","slug":"belinda-bencic-and-elina-svitolina-make-history-as-two-mothers-sit-in-wta-top-10-for-the-first-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/454412\/","title":{"rendered":"Belinda Bencic and Elina Svitolina make history as two mothers sit in WTA top 10 for the first time"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two mothers are simultaneously inside the women’s tennis top 10 rankings for the first time, as the governing body hails the success of initiatives to keep top players in the sport.<\/p>\n

The latest rankings from the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) have Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic ranked ninth and Ukrainian Elina Svitolina 10th, the first time two mothers have been in the top 10 at the same time.<\/p>\n

Bencic, who has been ranked as high as world number four, returned to the top-10 in mid-January for the first time after the birth of her daughter in 2023.<\/p>\n

The Swiss star has now been joined by Svitolina, who returns to the top 10 on the back of a semifinal run at last month’s Australian Open in Melbourne.<\/p>\n

The historic first is being touted as a success by the WTA, which has made efforts in recent years to help players maintain their professional careers and become parents.<\/p>\n

\"Belinda<\/p>\n

Belinda Bencic returned to the world’s top 10 in mid-January for the first time since giving birth to her daughter in 2023. (Reuters: Imagn Images\/Mike Frey)<\/p>\n

Last year, the WTA announced a maternity fund, while both Bencic and Svitolina have been aided by the WTA’s Special Ranking Rule for returning mothers, the governing body said.<\/p>\n

“Two mothers ranked inside the WTA Top 10 for the first time is an incredible moment for tennis and for women’s sport,” WTA chief executive Portia Archer said.<\/p>\n

“Not only does this highlight the exceptional achievements of Belinda and Elina, it reaffirms the WTA’s commitment to creating an environment where mothers can continue to compete and succeed, at the very highest level of sport \u2014 or any profession.”<\/p>\n

Bencic was the 10th seed at last month’s Australian Open, but suffered an upset loss in the second round to Czech outsider Nikola Bart\u016f\u0148kov\u00e1.<\/p>\n

Rybakina proves she is no one hit wonder with AO title<\/a><\/p>\n

A consistent and composed Elena Rybakina claims her maiden Australian Open title by beating world number one Aryna Sabalenka in a thriller three years after her breakout Wimbledon win.<\/p>\n

Despite that disappointment, Bencic actually rose one spot in the latest rankings.<\/p>\n

“Coming back to the WTA Top 10 one year after returning to competition after maternity leave is something I am incredibly proud of,” the Swiss said.<\/p>\n

“Very few people know or have experienced how difficult that journey is, but my family, my team and I have put all of our energy, work and dedication into it to accomplish this goal.”<\/p>\n

Svitolina’s return to the top 10 comes off the back of a magnificent performance at Melbourne Park, reaching the semifinal of the grand slam event.<\/p>\n

The Ukrainian beat fellow top 10 players Coco Gauff and Mirra Andreeva in the tournament.<\/p>\n

“It’s a dream to return to the WTA Top 10 and doing it as a mother means so much to me,” the world number 10 said.<\/p>\n

“I’m proud of my fight and resilience and I can’t thank the fans enough for their incredible support.”<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Australian Maya Joint has entered the WTA’s top 30 for the first time in her career.<\/p>\n

Despite falling in the first round of her home slam to Czech player Tereza Valentov\u00e1 at Melbourne Park, the 19-year-old has moved up to a career-high number 29 in the latest ranking release.<\/p>\n

Elena Rybakina has risen to number three in the world, up two places, after defeating world number one Aryna Sabalenka to claim the Australian Open title.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two mothers are simultaneously inside the women’s tennis top 10 rankings for the first time, as the governing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":454413,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[5844,64,63,6571,143468,41733,1806,31229,3410,588,85,747,62812,2637],"class_list":["post-454412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-abc-sport","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-open","tag-belinda-bencic","tag-elina-svitolina","tag-grand-slam","tag-maya-joint","tag-rankings","tag-sport","tag-sports","tag-tennis","tag-top-10","tag-wta"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=454412"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454412\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/454413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=454412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=454412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=454412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}