Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek came away unscathed in terms of the WTA Rankings despite opting not to compete at the Dubai Tennis Championships.

Reigning No 1 Sabalenka was always assured of remaining at the top as her lead over the chasing pack was more than 3,000 points at the start of the tournament, but the challengers had an opportunity to reduce her lead only to falter.

Swiatek started in second place and she was under pressure from Elena Rybakina, who had an opportunity to overtake the Pole with a deep run at the WTA 1000 event, but the six-time Grand Slam winner’s lead has instead grown.

Sabalenka, who skipped the tournament due to fatigue, remains well clear at the top with a 3,217-point lead over Swiatek, but the Pole is now 400 points ahead of Rybakina after the Australian Open champion dropped 270 points after retiring in the third round.

The two-time Grand Slam winner’s lead over Coco Gauff has also been reduced to 450 points after the American reached the semi-final before losing against Elina Svitolina.

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Gauff herself is now under pressure in terms of the American No 1 ranking following Jessica Pegula’s title run.

Pegula won her maiden trophy in Dubai with a three-set win over Svitolina and she added 880 points to her tally as she was defending 120 from 2025, leaving her just 35 points adrift of Gauff.

The only changes in the top 10 seeds Jasmine Paolini and Mirra Andreeva, who was the defending champion in Dubai, swapping places with the latter dropping to No 8 after she lost in the quarter-final.

Qatar Open champion Karolina Muchova dropped two places after she withdrew from the second Middle East 1000 event while rising American star Iva Jovic now sits at a career-high No 18 after moving up two places after reaching the third round.

Alex Eala provided one of the fairytale stories in Dubai as she reached the quarter-final of a WTA 1000 event for a second time, beating seventh seed Paolini en route, before losing against Gauff.

The Filipina started the tournament at No 47, but has jumped 16 places to a new high of No 31.

Fellow rising star Janice Tjen has also cracked a new career-high as she is up 10 places to No 36 after her run to the round of 16.

Croatian Antonia Ruzic, the lucky loser who beat Emma Raducanu in the first round and went on to reach the quarter-final after Rybakina retired, is +16 to a new high of No 51.

In terms of droppers, former Grand Slam winner Sofia Kenin is down 14 places to No 44 after an early exit in Dubai, fellow major champion Marketa Vondrousova is one place behind after dropping eight places.

Former world No 2 Paula Badosa retired from her second-round match against Svitolina and, as a result, she is -15 to No 85.

WTA Rankings Top 20

1. Aryna Sabalenka – 10,675 points
2. Iga Swiatek Poland – 7,588
3. Elena Rybakina Kazakhstan – 7,253
4. Coco Gauff United States – 6,803
5. Jessica Pegula United States – 6,768
6. Amanda Anisimova United States – 6,070
7. Jasmine Paolini Italy – 4,047 (+1)
8. Mirra Andreeva – 4,001 (-1)
9. Elina Svitolina Ukraine – 3,845
10. Victoria Mboko Canada – 3,214
11. Ekaterina Alexandrova – 2,918 (+1)
12. Belinda Bencic Switzerland – 2,898 (+1)
13. Karolina Muchova Czech Republic – 2,668 (-2)
14. Linda Noskova Czech Republic – 2,421
15. Madison Keys United States – 2,351 (+2)
16. Naomi Osaka Japan – 2,324
17. Clara Tauson Denmark – 2,095 (-2)
18. Iva Jovic United States – 2,095 (+2)
19. Luidmila Sansonova – 2,050 (-1)
20. Emma Navarro United States – 2,045 (-1)