List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players facts for kids

The WTA rankings are a system used by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) to figure out who the best women's tennis players are. The top-ranked player in singles is the one who has earned the most points over the past 52 weeks. Players get points based on how well they do in tournaments and how important those tournaments are. The WTA has used a computer system to track these rankings since November 3, 1975. Since then, 29 different women have reached the No. 1 spot in singles. Out of these, 15 have finished the year as the No. 1 player.

Currently, Iga Świątek is the world's No. 1 singles player.

Who Has Been No. 1 in Women's Tennis?

The official WTA Media Guide and the WTA website provide these rankings. They usually update the rankings every Sunday night or Monday morning.

Steffi Graf was No. 1 for an amazing 377 weeks, more than any other female player!

     This color means it was the player's first time at No. 1.      This color shows a new WTA rankings record.      This color shows the current World No. 1 player.

No.	Player	Start date	End date	Weeks	Total
1	Evert, ChrisChris Evert (USA)	Nov 3, 1975	Apr 25, 1976	25	25
2	Goolagong Cawley, EvonneEvonne Goolagong Cawley (AUS)	Apr 26, 1976	May 9, 1976	2	2
	Chris Evert (2)	May 10, 1976	Jul 9, 1978	113	138
3	Navratilova, MartinaMartina Navratilova (USA)	Jul 10, 1978	Jan 13, 1979	26	26
	Chris Evert (3)	Jan 14, 1979	Jan 27, 1979	2	140
	Martina Navratilova (2)	Jan 28, 1979	Feb 24, 1979	4	30
	Chris Evert (4)	Feb 25, 1979	Apr 15, 1979	7	147
	Martina Navratilova (3)	Apr 16, 1979	Jun 24, 1979	10	40
	Chris Evert (5)	Jun 25, 1979	Sep 9, 1979	11	158
	Martina Navratilova (4)	Sep 10, 1979	Apr 6, 1980	31	71
4	Austin, TracyTracy Austin (USA)	Apr 7, 1980	Apr 20, 1980	2	2
	Martina Navratilova (5)	Apr 21, 1980	Jul 6, 1980	11	82
	Tracy Austin (2)	Jul 7, 1980	Nov 17, 1980	19	21
	Chris Evert (6)	Nov 18, 1980	May 2, 1982	76	234
	Martina Navratilova (6)	May 3, 1982	May 16, 1982	2	84
	Chris Evert (7)	May 17, 1982	Jun 13, 1982	4	238
	Martina Navratilova (7)	Jun 14, 1982	Jun 9, 1985	156	240
	Chris Evert (8)	Jun 10, 1985	Oct 13, 1985	18	256
	Martina Navratilova (8)	Oct 14, 1985	Oct 27, 1985	2	242
	Chris Evert (9)	Oct 28, 1985	Nov 24, 1985	4	260
	Martina Navratilova (9)	Nov 25, 1985	Aug 16, 1987	90	332
5	Graf, SteffiSteffi Graf (FRG)	Aug 17, 1987	Mar 10, 1991	186	186
6	Seles, MonicaMonica Seles (YUG)	Mar 11, 1991	Aug 4, 1991	21	21
	Steffi Graf (2)	Aug 5, 1991	Aug 11, 1991	1	187
	Monica Seles (2)	Aug 12, 1991	Aug 18, 1991	1	22
	Steffi Graf (3)	Aug 19, 1991	Sep 8, 1991	3	190
	/ Monica Seles (3)	Sep 9, 1991	Jun 6, 1993	91	113
	Steffi Graf (4)	Jun 7, 1993	Feb 5, 1995	87	277
7	Sánchez Vicario, ArantxaArantxa Sánchez Vicario (ESP)	Feb 6, 1995	Feb 19, 1995	2	2
	Steffi Graf (5)	Feb 20, 1995	Feb 26, 1995	1	278
	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (2)	Feb 27, 1995	Apr 9, 1995	6	8
	Steffi Graf (6)	Apr 10, 1995	May 14, 1995	5	283
	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (3)	May 15, 1995	Jun 11, 1995	4	12
	Steffi Graf (7)	Jun 12, 1995	Aug 14, 1995	9	292
	Steffi Graf (7)	Aug 15, 1995	Nov 3, 1996	64	356
	Monica Seles (4)				177
	Steffi Graf (7)	Nov 4, 1996	Nov 17, 1996	2	358
	Steffi Graf (7)	Nov 18, 1996	Nov 24, 1996	1	359
	Monica Seles (5)				178
	Steffi Graf (7)	Nov 25, 1996	Mar 30, 1997	18	377
8	Hingis, MartinaMartina Hingis (SUI)	Mar 31, 1997	Oct 11, 1998	80	80
9	Davenport, LindsayLindsay Davenport (USA)	Oct 12, 1998	Feb 7, 1999	17	17
	Martina Hingis (2)	Feb 8, 1999	Jul 4, 1999	21	101
	Lindsay Davenport (2)	Jul 5, 1999	Aug 8, 1999	5	22
	Martina Hingis (3)	Aug 9, 1999	Apr 2, 2000	34	135
	Lindsay Davenport (3)	Apr 3, 2000	May 7, 2000	5	27
	Martina Hingis (4)	May 8, 2000	May 14, 2000	1	136
	Lindsay Davenport (4)	May 15, 2000	May 21, 2000	1	28
	Martina Hingis (5)	May 22, 2000	Oct 14, 2001	73	209
10	Capriati, JenniferJennifer Capriati (USA)	Oct 15, 2001	Nov 4, 2001	3	3
	Lindsay Davenport (5)	Nov 5, 2001	Jan 13, 2002	10	38
	Jennifer Capriati (2)	Jan 14, 2002	Feb 24, 2002	6	9
11	Williams, VenusVenus Williams (USA)	Feb 25, 2002	Mar 17, 2002	3	3
	Jennifer Capriati (3)	Mar 18, 2002	Apr 21, 2002	5	14
	Venus Williams (2)	Apr 22, 2002	May 19, 2002	4	7
	Jennifer Capriati (4)	May 20, 2002	Jun 9, 2002	3	17
	Venus Williams (3)	Jun 10, 2002	Jul 7, 2002	4	11
12	Williams, SerenaSerena Williams (USA)	Jul 8, 2002	Aug 10, 2003	57	57
13	Clijsters, KimKim Clijsters (BEL)	Aug 11, 2003	Oct 19, 2003	10	10
14	Henin, JustineJustine Henin (BEL)	Oct 20, 2003	Oct 26, 2003	1	1
	Kim Clijsters (2)	Oct 27, 2003	Nov 9, 2003	2	12
	Justine Henin (2)	Nov 10, 2003	Sep 12, 2004	44	45
15	Mauresmo, AmélieAmélie Mauresmo (FRA)	Sep 13, 2004	Oct 17, 2004	5	5
	Lindsay Davenport (6)	Oct 18, 2004	Aug 21, 2005	44	82
16	Sharapova, MariaMaria Sharapova (RUS)	Aug 22, 2005	Aug 28, 2005	1	1
	Lindsay Davenport (7)	Aug 29, 2005	Sep 11, 2005	2	84
	Maria Sharapova (2)	Sep 12, 2005	Oct 23, 2005	6	7
	Lindsay Davenport (8)	Oct 24, 2005	Jan 29, 2006	14	98
	Kim Clijsters (3)	Jan 30, 2006	Mar 19, 2006	7	19
	Amélie Mauresmo (2)	Mar 20, 2006	Nov 12, 2006	34	39
	Justine Henin (3)	Nov 13, 2006	Jan 28, 2007	11	56
	Maria Sharapova (3)	Jan 29, 2007	Mar 18, 2007	7	14
	Justine Henin (4)	Mar 19, 2007	May 18, 2008	61	117
	Maria Sharapova (4)	May 19, 2008	Jun 8, 2008	3	17
17	Ivanovic, AnaAna Ivanovic (SRB)	Jun 9, 2008	Aug 10, 2008	9	9
18	Janković, JelenaJelena Janković (SRB)	Aug 11, 2008	Aug 17, 2008	1	1
	Ana Ivanovic (2)	Aug 18, 2008	Sep 7, 2008	3	12
	Serena Williams (2)	Sep 8, 2008	Oct 5, 2008	4	61
	Jelena Janković (2)	Oct 6, 2008	Feb 1, 2009	17	18
	Serena Williams (3)	Feb 2, 2009	Apr 19, 2009	11	72
19	Safina, DinaraDinara Safina (RUS)	Apr 20, 2009	Oct 11, 2009	25	25
	Serena Williams (4)	Oct 12, 2009	Oct 25, 2009	2	74
	Dinara Safina (2)	Oct 26, 2009	Nov 1, 2009	1	26
	Serena Williams (5)	Nov 2, 2009	Oct 10, 2010	49	123
20	Wozniacki, CarolineCaroline Wozniacki (DEN)	Oct 11, 2010	Feb 13, 2011	18	18
	Kim Clijsters (4)	Feb 14, 2011	Feb 20, 2011	1	20
	Caroline Wozniacki (2)	Feb 21, 2011	Jan 29, 2012	49	67
21	Azarenka, VictoriaVictoria Azarenka (BLR)	Jan 30, 2012	Jun 10, 2012	19	19
	Maria Sharapova (5)	Jun 11, 2012	Jul 8, 2012	4	21
	Victoria Azarenka (2)	Jul 9, 2012	Feb 17, 2013	32	51
	Serena Williams (6)	Feb 18, 2013	Sep 11, 2016	186	309
22	Kerber, AngeliqueAngelique Kerber (GER)	Sep 12, 2016	Jan 29, 2017	20	20
	Serena Williams (7)	Jan 30, 2017	Mar 19, 2017	7	316
	Angelique Kerber (2)	Mar 20, 2017	Apr 23, 2017	5	25
	Serena Williams (8)	Apr 24, 2017	May 14, 2017	3	319
	Angelique Kerber (3)	May 15, 2017	Jul 16, 2017	9	34
23	Plíšková, KarolínaKarolína Plíšková (CZE)	Jul 17, 2017	Sep 10, 2017	8	8
24	Muguruza, GarbiñeGarbiñe Muguruza (ESP)	Sep 11, 2017	Oct 8, 2017	4	4
25	Halep, SimonaSimona Halep (ROU)	Oct 9, 2017	Jan 28, 2018	16	16
	Caroline Wozniacki (3)	Jan 29, 2018	Feb 25, 2018	4	71
	Simona Halep (2)	Feb 26, 2018	Jan 27, 2019	48	64
26	Osaka, NaomiNaomi Osaka (JPN)	Jan 28, 2019	Jun 23, 2019	21	21
27	Barty, AshleighAshleigh Barty (AUS)	Jun 24, 2019	Aug 11, 2019	7	7
	Naomi Osaka (2)	Aug 12, 2019	Sep 8, 2019	4	25
	Ashleigh Barty (2)	Sep 9, 2019	Mar 22, 2020	28	35
	Rankings frozen	Mar 23, 2020	Aug 9, 2020	20
	Ashleigh Barty (2)	Aug 10, 2020	Apr 3, 2022	86	121
28	Świątek, IgaIga Świątek (POL)	Apr 4, 2022	Sep 10, 2023	75	75
29	Sabalenka, ArynaAryna Sabalenka	Sep 11, 2023	Nov 5, 2023	8	8
	Iga Świątek (2)	Nov 6, 2023	Present	1	76

How Long Players Stayed at No. 1

This section shows how many weeks each player spent as the No. 1 singles player.

Total Weeks at No. 1

No.	Player	Weeks
1	Steffi Graf	377
2	/ Martina Navratilova	332
3	Serena Williams	319
4	Chris Evert	260
5	Martina Hingis	209
6	/ Monica Seles	178
7	Ashleigh Barty	121
8	Justine Henin	117
9	Iga Świątek	76
10	Lindsay Davenport	98
11	Caroline Wozniacki	71
12	Simona Halep	64
13	Victoria Azarenka	51
14	Amélie Mauresmo	39
15	Angelique Kerber	34
16	Dinara Safina	26
17	Naomi Osaka	25
18	Tracy Austin	21
	Maria Sharapova
20	Kim Clijsters	20
21	Jelena Janković	18
22	Jennifer Capriati	17
23	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	12
	Ana Ivanovic
25	Venus Williams	11
26	Karolína Plíšková	8
	Aryna Sabalenka
28	Garbiñe Muguruza	4
29	Evonne Goolagong Cawley	2
	Active players – current No. 1 in bold.

Consecutive Weeks at No. 1

This table shows the longest times players stayed at the No. 1 spot without interruption.

No.	Player	Weeks
1	Steffi Graf	186
	Serena Williams
3	Martina Navratilova	156
4	Ashleigh Barty	114
5	Chris Evert	113
6	Steffi Graf (2)	94
7	Monica Seles	91
8	Martina Navratilova (2)	90
9	Steffi Graf (3)	87
10	Martina Hingis	80
11	Chris Evert (2)	76
12	Iga Świątek	75
13	Martina Hingis (2)	73
14	Monica Seles (2)	64
15	Justine Henin	61
16	Serena Williams (2)	57
17	Serena Williams (3)	49
	Caroline Wozniacki
19	Simona Halep	48
20	Justine Henin (2)	44
	Lindsay Davenport
	Current streak in bold.

Weeks are updated automatically.

Timeline of Weeks at No. 1 Leaders

This timeline shows which player held the record for most weeks at No. 1 over time.

Year span	Leader	Date achieved	Duration	Record
1975–1985	Chris Evert	3 November 1975	9 years, 6 months	238
1985–1985	Martina Navratilova	27 May 1985	28 days	240
1985–1986	Chris Evert	24 June 1985	9 months	260
1986–1996	Martina Navratilova	31 March 1986	10 years, 1 month	332
1996–Present	Steffi Graf	21 May 1996	29 years, 1 month	377

Current record in bold.

No. 1 Leaders Timeline Chart

Year-End No. 1 Players

This section lists the players who finished each year as the No. 1 ranked player.

Year-End No. 1 by Year

Year Player 1975  Chris Evert (USA) 1976 Chris Evert (2) 1977* Chris Evert (3) 1978  Martina Navratilova (USA) 1979 Martina Navratilova (2) 1980 Chris Evert (4) 1981* Chris Evert (5) 1982 Martina Navratilova (3) 1983* Martina Navratilova (4) 1984* Martina Navratilova (5) 1985 Martina Navratilova (6) 1986* Martina Navratilova (7) 1987  Steffi Graf (FRG) 1988* Steffi Graf (2) 1989* Steffi Graf (3) 1990* Steffi Graf (4) 1991  Monica Seles (YUG) 1992* Monica Seles (2) 1993 Steffi Graf (5) 1994* Steffi Graf (6) 1995 Steffi Graf (7) Monica Seles (3) 1996* Steffi Graf (8) 1997  Martina Hingis (SUI) 1998  Lindsay Davenport (USA) 1999 Martina Hingis (2)

Year-End No. 1 by Year (continued) Year Player 2000 Martina Hingis (3) 2001 Lindsay Davenport (2) 2002  Serena Williams (USA) 2003  Justine Henin (BEL) 2004 Lindsay Davenport (3) 2005 Lindsay Davenport (4) 2006 Justine Henin (2) 2007 Justine Henin (3) 2008  Jelena Janković (SRB) 2009 Serena Williams (2) 2010  Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) 2011 Caroline Wozniacki (2) 2012  Victoria Azarenka (BLR) 2013 Serena Williams (3) 2014* Serena Williams (4) 2015* Serena Williams (5) 2016  Angelique Kerber (GER) 2017  Simona Halep (ROU) 2018 Simona Halep (2) 2019  Ashleigh Barty (AUS) 2020* Ashleigh Barty (2) 2021* Ashleigh Barty (3) 2022  Iga Świątek (POL) 2023 Iga Świątek (2) 2024 * Player was ranked No. 1 throughout the calendar year. Year-End No. 1 by Player This table shows how many times each player finished the year as No. 1. No. Total 8 Steffi Graf 7 Martina Navratilova 5 Chris Evert Serena Williams 4 Lindsay Davenport 3 / Monica Seles Martina Hingis Justine Henin Ashleigh Barty 2 Caroline Wozniacki Simona Halep Iga Świątek 1 Jelena Janković Victoria Azarenka Angelique Kerber No. Consecutive 5 Martina Navratilova 4 Steffi Graf (x2) 3 Chris Evert Serena Williams Ashleigh Barty 2 Martina Navratilova Chris Evert Monica Seles Martina Hingis Lindsay Davenport Justine Henin Caroline Wozniacki Simona Halep Iga Świątek Players Who Reached No. 1 Without a Grand Slam Title Some players became No. 1 before winning a major Grand Slam tournament. This table lists them. Player First ranked No. 1 First Grand Slam final First Grand Slam title Kim Clijsters August 11, 2003 2001 French Open (June 2001) (1st of 8) 2005 US Open (1st of 4, retired in 2022) Amélie Mauresmo September 13, 2004 1999 Australian Open (January 1999) (1st of 3) 2006 Australian Open (1st of 2, retired in 2009) Jelena Janković August 11, 2008 2008 US Open (September 2008) (only final) None (retired in 2017) Dinara Safina April 20, 2009 2008 French Open (June 2008) (1st of 3) None (retired in 2014) Caroline Wozniacki October 11, 2010 2009 US Open (September 2009) (1st of 3) 2018 Australian Open (only title, still active) Karolína Plíšková July 17, 2017 2016 US Open (September 2016) (1st of 2) None (still active) Simona Halep October 9, 2017 2014 French Open (June 2014) (1st of 5) 2018 French Open (1st of 2, still active) Time Between First and Last No. 1 Ranking This table shows how long a player's career spanned while holding the No. 1 ranking at different times.      Current No. 1 player (date and age are updated automatically). Active players and age records indicated in bold. Time span Player First held No. 1 Last held No. 1 Date Age Date Age 14 years, 310 days Serena Williams Jul 8, 2002 20 years, 285 days May 14, 2017 35 years, 230 days 10 years, 21 days Chris Evert Nov 3, 1975 20 years, 317 days Nov 24, 1985 30 years, 338 days 9 years, 225 days Steffi Graf Aug 17, 1987 18 years, 64 days Mar 30, 1997 27 years, 289 days 9 years, 37 days Martina Navratilova Jul 10, 1978 21 years, 265 days Aug 16, 1987 30 years, 302 days 7 years, 193 days Kim Clijsters Aug 11, 2003 20 years, 64 days Feb 20, 2011 27 years, 257 days 7 years, 137 days Caroline Wozniacki Oct 11, 2010 20 years, 92 days Feb 25, 2018 27 years, 229 days 7 years, 109 days Lindsay Davenport Oct 12, 1998 22 years, 126 days Jan 29, 2006 29 years, 235 days 6 years, 321 days Maria Sharapova Aug 22, 2005 18 years, 125 days Jul 8, 2012 25 years, 80 days 5 years, 258 days Monica Seles Mar 11, 1991 17 years, 99 days Nov 24, 1996 22 years, 358 days 4 years, 211 days Justine Henin Oct 20, 2003 21 years, 141 days May 18, 2008 25 years, 352 days 4 years, 197 days Martina Hingis Mar 31, 1997 16 years, 182 days Oct 14, 2001 21 years, 14 days 2 years, 283 days Ashleigh Barty Jun 24, 2019 23 years, 61 days Apr 3, 2022 25 years, 344 days 2 years, 60 days Amélie Mauresmo Sep 13, 2004 25 years, 70 days Nov 12, 2006 27 years, 130 days 3 years, 78 days Iga Świątek Apr 4, 2022 20 years, 308 days June 21, 2025 24 years, 21 days 1 year, 110 days Simona Halep Oct 9, 2017 26 years, 12 days Jan 27, 2019 27 years, 122 days 1 year, 18 days Victoria Azarenka Jan 30, 2012 22 years, 183 days Feb 17, 2013 23 years, 201 days 307 days Angelique Kerber Sep 12, 2016 28 years, 238 days Jul 16, 2017 29 years, 179 days 237 days Jennifer Capriati Oct 15, 2001 25 years, 200 days Jun 9, 2002 26 years, 72 days 224 days Tracy Austin Apr 7, 1980 17 years, 117 days Nov 17, 1980 17 years, 341 days 223 days Naomi Osaka Jan 28, 2019 21 years, 104 days Sep 8, 2019 21 years, 327 days 195 days Dinara Safina Apr 20, 2009 22 years, 358 days Nov 1, 2009 23 years, 188 days 174 days Jelena Janković Aug 11, 2008 23 years, 165 days Feb 1, 2009 23 years, 339 days 132 days Venus Williams Feb 25, 2002 21 years, 253 days Jul 7, 2002 22 years, 20 days 125 days Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Feb 6, 1995 23 years, 50 days Jun 11, 1995 23 years, 175 days 90 days Ana Ivanovic Jun 9, 2008 20 years, 216 days Sep 7, 2008 20 years, 306 days 55 days Karolína Plíšková Jul 17, 2017 25 years, 118 days Sep 10, 2017 25 years, 173 days Aryna Sabalenka Sep 11, 2023 25 years, 129 days Nov 5, 2023 25 years, 184 days 27 days Garbiñe Muguruza Sep 11, 2017 23 years, 338 days Oct 8, 2017 24 years, 0 days 13 days Evonne Goolagong Cawley Apr 26, 1976 24 years, 270 days May 9, 1976 24 years, 283 days Weeks at No. 1 by Decade This shows how many weeks players spent at No. 1 in different decades. Current No. 1 player indicated in italic. 1970s* * — Starting November 1975 158  Evert 57  Navratilova 2   Goolagong Cawley 1980s 275  Navratilova 124  Graf 102  Evert 21  Austin 1990s 253  Graf 178  Seles 122  Hingis 22  Davenport 12  Sánchez Vicario 2000s 117  Henin 87  Hingis 83  S Williams 76  Davenport 39  Mauresmo 26  Safina 19  Clijsters 18  Janković 17  Capriati, Sharapova 12   Ivanovic 11   V Williams 2010s 236  S Williams 71  Wozniacki 64  Halep 51  Azarenka 34  Kerber 25  Osaka 24  Barty 8  Plíšková 4   Muguruza, Sharapova 1   Clijsters 2020s WTA rankings were paused from March 23, 2020 to August 9, 2020. 76  Świątek 97  Barty 8  Sabalenka Stats are automatically updated on Mondays (UTC). Weeks at No. 1 by Country This table shows how many players from each country have reached No. 1 and for how many weeks in total. Current No. 1 player indicated in bold. No. Country Total Players Players Weeks 1  United States 8 1,123 Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Tracy Austin, Monica Seles*, Lindsay Davenport, Jennifer Capriati, Venus Williams, Serena Williams 2  Germany 2 411 Steffi Graf, Angelique Kerber 3  Switzerland 1 209 Martina Hingis 4 // Yugoslavia/Serbia 3 143 Monica Seles*, Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Janković 5  Belgium 2 137 Kim Clijsters, Justine Henin 6  Australia 2 123 Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Ashleigh Barty 7  Poland 1 76 Iga Świątek 8  Denmark 1 71 Caroline Wozniacki 9  Romania 1 64 Simona Halep 10  Belarus 1 51 Victoria Azarenka 11  Russia 2 47 Maria Sharapova, Dinara Safina 12  France 1 39 Amélie Mauresmo 13  Japan 1 25 Naomi Osaka 14  Spain 2 16 Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Garbiñe Muguruza 15  Czech Republic 1 8 Karolína Plíšková Weeks are updated automatically. * Monica Seles is included twice because she changed her citizenship. Images for kids Iga Świątek, currently ranked No. 1 in women's singles. See Also World number 1 ranked female tennis players (This list includes rankings before 1975) ITF World Champions List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players List of ATP number 1 ranked doubles tennis players Current WTA rankings Top ten ranked female tennis players Top ten ranked female tennis players (1921–1974) List of highest ranked tennis players per country