{"id":279376,"date":"2025-11-08T13:33:14","date_gmt":"2025-11-08T13:33:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/279376\/"},"modified":"2025-11-08T13:33:14","modified_gmt":"2025-11-08T13:33:14","slug":"how-amanda-anisimova-can-replace-coco-gauff-as-us-no-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/279376\/","title":{"rendered":"How Amanda Anisimova can replace Coco Gauff as US No 1"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Amanda Anisimova\u2019s rise has been one of the best stories on the WTA Tour in 2025, and the American\u2019s landmark season is not done yet.<\/p>\n<p>After a disappointing loss against Elena Rybakina to start her maiden WTA Finals campaign, gutsy victories over Madison Keys and Iga Swiatek were enough for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/amanda-anisimova\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Anisimova<\/a> to progress to the last four in Riyadh.<\/p>\n<p>Now, the Wimbledon and US Open runner-up has the chance to break new ground over the next two days, and potentially overtake <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/coco-gauff\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Coco Gauff<\/a> as the US No 1 \u2014 here is how she can do it.<\/p>\n<p>As it stands<\/p>\n<p>Of the four Americans who qualified for the WTA Finals this year, Anisimova is one of two left standing ahead of the knockout stage, alongside Jessica Pegula.<\/p>\n<p>The fourth seed qualified second from Group Serena Williams and will face Group Steffi Graf winner Aryna Sabalenka on Friday, while the other semi-final pits sixth seed Rybakina against fifth seed Pegula.<\/p>\n<p>However, defending champion Gauff is now out of the tournament, with defeats to both Sabalenka and Pegula meaning she finished third in Group Steffi Graf.<\/p>\n<p>With 200 ranking points available per round-robin win, Gauff leaves Riyadh with a year-end tally of 6,763 points and currently sits third in the WTA Live Rankings.<\/p>\n<p>After two group stage wins, Anisimova sits on 6,287 points in the live rankings \u2014 though now has the chance to pick up significant points in the knockout rounds.<\/p>\n<p>Tennis News<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/elena-rybakina-issues-fitness-update-ahead-of-wta-finals-knockout-stages\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Elena Rybakina issues fitness update ahead of WTA Finals knockout stages<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/wta-tour\/iga-swiatek-interesting-confession-enters-uncharted-waters-wta-finals-exit\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Iga Swiatek makes interesting confession as she enters uncharted waters with WTA Finals exit<\/a><\/p>\n<p>How can Anisimova replace Gauff as US No 1?<\/p>\n<p>It is unlikely that Anisimova will be thinking about her ranking mid-event, but she has been handed a gilt-edged chance in Riyadh.<\/p>\n<p>With Gauff now out and only earning 200 ranking points, Anisimova can now rise to a new career-high ranking of world No 3 if she wins the WTA Finals title.<\/p>\n<p>A total of 400 ranking points are on offer in Friday\u2019s semi-final encounters, meaning that the fourth seed will move to 6,687 points if she were to beat Sabalenka in the last four.<\/p>\n<p>Though that would not be enough to overtake Gauff, she could then overtake her compatriot if she won the final, which is worth 500 ranking points for whoever triumphs.<\/p>\n<p>Should Anisimova triumph in Riyadh over the next two days, she would hold 7,187 points when the WTA Rankings update next Monday \u2014 enough to move ahead of Gauff.<\/p>\n<p>A major opportunity has been presented to her, though her position as the year-end world No 4 is also not yet secure.<\/p>\n<p>Can Pegula overtake Anisimova?<\/p>\n<p>After pulling out of last year\u2019s WTA Finals after two round-robin defeats, Riyadh has been much kinder to Pegula in 2025.<\/p>\n<p>An impressive win over Jasmine Paolini on Thursday was enough for Pegula to seal progression with a 2-1 record in Group Steffi Graf, her only loss coming to world No 1 Sabalenka.<\/p>\n<p>The runner-up at this tournament in 2023, she will be eyeing up her second final when she faces Rybakina in Friday\u2019s semi-final showdown.<\/p>\n<p>And, she could in fact overtake Anisimova and move inside the world\u2019s top four by the end of the year.<\/p>\n<p>Should Anisimova fall to Sabalenka on Friday, she would end the year on her current total of 6,287 points.<\/p>\n<p>However, if Pegula were to go on to win the title, she would end the year on 6,483 points \u2014 enough to move above her compatriot.<\/p>\n<p>Pegula herself could be overtaken by Rybakina if the Kazakh wins their semi-final and ultimately takes home the title, meaning there is plenty at stake in the WTA Rankings over the next two days.<\/p>\n<p>Read Next: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-features\/wta-finals-prize-money-ranking-points-won-coco-gauff-jasmine-paolini-revealed\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">WTA Finals prize money &amp; ranking points won by Coco Gauff and Jasmine Paolini revealed<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Amanda Anisimova\u2019s rise has been one of the best stories on the WTA Tour in 2025, and the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":279377,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[99,428],"class_list":["post-279376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=279376"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279376\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/279377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=279376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=279376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=279376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}