Stopped Barty will relinquish first place in the world rankings
Women’s tennis will soon have a new number 1. Ashleigh Barty, the current leader of the world ranking, is being deregistered by the WTA. This means that with the next publication of the ranking a new name will be at the top.
Iga Swiatek, the number 2 in the world, is the main candidate to take over first place from Barty after the Miami tournament. The 20-year-old Polish won the Indian Wells tournament last week and climbed to second place. Swiatek is more than 2200 points behind Barty, who has been leading the ranking continuously since September 9, 2019.
The 25-year-old Australian, winner in Miami last year, announced on Wednesday that she will stop playing tennis immediately. In principle, given the lead she has, Barty could remain in the lead for a while. “But my name will be removed from the ranking with the next publication,” said the Australian. “It will be an exciting time for the WTA Tour with a new number 1, a cool period now begins for the other tennis players.”
Swiatek was in her Miami hotel room when a member of her coaching staff walked in and told her to put down her laptop. “I was shocked, but then they told me that I can become the new number 1 in the world. Anyway, there is no use thinking about that now. I have to prepare for a new tournament and stay focused on what I must do,” said Swiatek, who said she had to cry “a very long time” when she heard that Barty had announced her retirement. The Polish had her breakthrough in 2020 by winning Roland Garros to everyone’s surprise.