The ATP and WTA have long identified the best tennis player based on their performance in various tournaments throughout the year, specifically over the last 52 weeks. How fair is the image? These organizations only take into account the status of the tournament and the stage the tennis player has reached. The editors of the “Championship” believe that there are other criteria by which the rating will be more accurate. Additionally, success over shorter distances is also important. Therefore, we decided to create our own rating and let’s start with women. But first, let’s talk about the scheme.
How are points calculated?
The results of the tennis players in all the tournaments of the last quarter are taken into account. In this case, from January 1 to April 1, 2024.
The following are taken into account:
the tennis player’s current rating; how much she managed to rise in the ranking during this time; what results she could achieve in the tournaments depending on her status; what serious rivals she managed to defeat during this period.
And now in more detail: at the end there is a general table, and this is what the columns mean.
Column 1. Rating at the end of the period
Tennis players who are among the top 10 in the WTA ranking receive 10 points, those who are among the top 20, 9 points, and so on, for a place in the top 100, one point.
Places in the WTA rankingPoints1-101011-20921-30831-40741-50651-60561-70471-80381-90291-1001
Column 2. Qualification bonus
If during this period the tennis player was able to rise in the ranking by several dozen places, for every new ten she will receive an additional bonus point. If there was no noticeable increase in three months or even a drop in results, then this bonus is not awarded.
Column 3. Titles + endings
For participating in the final of the lower category WTA-250 tournament, the tennis player receives one point, for the title – two points. With each subsequent category, the value of the rounds doubles. And finally, for the fourth round on TBS, the tennis player will receive one point, for the quarterfinals – two, for the semifinals – four, for the final – eight and for the title – 16. The details are in the table.
tFbronze1/21/4 (3rd in the group in It)4th circle (4th in IT group)250215004211000+OI84321TBSh+It168421
Columns 4-9. The value of winning over your rivals
For a victory over a tennis player in the top 50, a participant in our ranking receives one point, for a player in the top 40 – two points, and so on. A victory over a top 10 tennis player is worth five points, and over a top 5 player is worth six points. Details in the table.
Opponent’s rank in WTA rankingPoints1-566-10511-20421-30331-40241-501
Column 10. Amount
Tennis players are classified in the table according to the number of points obtained. Also, if some of them have the same amounts, the one who is higher in the latest WTA rankings will be ranked higher.
Classificationr.bonusV+Ftop 5top 1020 best30 besttop 4050 bestAddition1Alexandrova9151804940502Kalinskaya85612150022503Pavlyuchenkova8330512922444Kasatkina904004622275Blinkova6001200040226M. Andreeva721054000197Samsonova901004040188Potapova701008020189Avanesyan41001000001510Schneider5420000211411V. Kudermetova9000003001212Timofeeva111004000713E. Andreeva110000000214Rakhimova1000000001
We figured it out and now the list itself!
10th place. Diana Schneider – 14 points
The Russian, who turned 20 on April 2, is experiencing the best moment of her career. In February she won the first title of her career, in Hua Hin, defeating two Chinese women in the top 50. In addition, Diana improved her position in the ranking by four dozen places, which allowed her to displace Veronika Kudermetova, who is the 19th racket in the world, from the top 10 of the “Championship” ranking. Also in the top ten were Maria Timofeeva, Erika Andreeva and Kamilla Rakhimova.
Diana Schneider 58th racket in the world Ranking as of January 1, 2024 – 97 January-March 2024 results: Brisbane – 1st round JSC – 1st round Hua Hin – title (2 points) Doha – 1st round Indian Wells – 2nd round Miami – 2nd round Wins/losses – 7/13 Top 5 – 0 Top 10 – 0 Top 20 – 0 Top 30 – 0 Top 40 – 1 (Xinyu Wang) Top 50 – 1 (Zhu Lin).
9th place. Elina Avanesian – 15 points
In three months, 21-year-old Elina Avanesyan managed to improve her position in the ranking by a dozen places and, in addition, she has two victories over tennis players from the top 10: over Maria Sakkari at the Australian Open and over Ons. Jabeur in Miami.
Elina Avanesian 64th racket in the world Ranking as of January 1, 2024 – 75 January-March 2024 results: Auckland – 2nd circle AO – 3rd circle Cluj-Napoca – 2nd circle Indian Wells – 1st circle Miami – 3rd circle Wins/losses – 6/6 Top 5 – 0 Top 10 – 2 (Sakkari, Jabeur) Top 20 – 0 Top 30 – 0 Top 40 – 0 Top 50 – 0.
8th place. Anastasia Potapova – 18 points
Anastasia Potapova celebrated her 23rd birthday at the end of March. The most significant result for the Russian in the first quarter of 2024 was the quarterfinals of the thousand-mile race in Indian Wells. She also has victories over high-status tennis players: Veronica Kudermetova, Yasmina Paolini and Marie Bouzkova.
Anastasia Potapova 35th racket in the world Ranking as of January 1, 2024 – 28 January-March 2024 results: Brisbane – 1/4 final AO – 1st round Linz – 1/4 final Doha – 2nd round Dubai – 3rd round Indian Wells – 1/4 final (1) Miami – 2nd round Wins/losses – 10/7 Top 5 – 0 Top 10 – 0 Top 20 – 2 (Kudermetova, Paolini) Top 30 – 0 Top 40 – 1 (Bouzkova) Top 50 – 0.
7th place. Lyudmila Samsonova – 18 points
Lyudmila Samsonova remains in the top 20. The Russian spent the first quarter of 2024 without significant outbursts. Her best results were the semi-final in Abu Dhabi and victories over strong tennis players Barbora Krejcikova, Lesya Tsurenko and Angelina Kalinina. Due to her higher position in the WTA rankings, Lyudmila beat Anastasia Potapova in our rankings.
Lyudmila Samsonova 16th racket in the world Ranking as of January 1, 2024 – 15 January-March 2024 results: Brisbane – 2nd round Adelaide – 1st round AO – 1st round Abu Dhabi – 1/2 final (1) Doha – 1st round Dubai – 3rd round Indian Wells – 2nd round Miami – 2 round Wins/losses – 4/8 Top 5 – 0 Top 10 – 0 Top 20 – 1 (Krejcikova) Top 30 – 0 Top 40 – 2 (Tsurenko, Kalinina) Top 50 – 0.
6th place. Mirra Andreeva – 19 points
16-year-old Mirra Andreeva, despite the injuries she suffered and the age restrictions on the allowed number of tournaments per year, managed to perform brilliantly in the first quarter of 2024. At the Australian Open, the young Russian she reached the fourth round and, in addition, managed to beat her status rivals Ons Jabeur and Lyudmila Samsonova, and also improve her position in the ranking by a couple of dozen places.
Mirra Andreeva 38th racket in the world Ranking as of January 1, 2024 – 58 January-March 2024 results: Brisbane – 1/4 final JSC – 4th round (1) Dubai – 1st round Indian Wells – 1st round Wins/losses – 6/4 Top 5 – 0 Top 10 – 1 (Gill) Top 20 – 1 (Samsonova) Top 30 – 0 Top 40 – 0 Top 50 – 0.
5th place. Anna Blinkova – 22 points
In the first quarter of 2024, Anna Blinkova’s results did not show any special increase and in half of the tournaments she withdrew from the race in the first round. However, the 25-year-old Russian managed to defeat top 5 opponents twice! At the Australian Open, Ella Anna sensationally eliminated last year’s finalist Elena Rybakina from the group, and at Indian Wells she eliminated American Jessica Pegula from the race.
Anna Blinkova 45th racket in the world Ranking as of January 1, 2024 – 48 January-March 2024 results: Auckland – 1st round Hobart – 1st round AO – 3rd round Linz – 1st round Cluj-Napoca – 2nd round San Diego – 1/4 final Indian Wells – 3rd round Miami – 1 round Wins/losses – 7/8 Top 5 – 2 (Rybakina, Pegula) Top 10 – 0 Top 20 – 0 Top 30 – 0 Top 40 – 2 (Yastremskaya, Pliskova) Top 50 – 0.
4th place. Daria Kasatkina – 27 points
Russian Daria Kasatkina, 26, had a stable first quarter of 2024. She was twice in the final of the “500”, in Adelaide and Abu Dhabi, rose from 18th to 11th place in the WTA rankings and won six victories over tennis players from the top 20 to the top 50. But even this was not enough to finish the reporting period in the top three of the championship rankings.
Daria Kasatkina 11th racket in the world Ranking as of January 1, 2024 – 18 January-March 2024 results: Brisbane – 1/4 final Adelaide – final (2) JSC – 2nd round Abu Dhabi – final (2) Doha – 1st round Dubai – 1st round Indian Wells – 4th round Miami – 3rd circle Wins/losses – 12/8 Top 5 – 0 Top 10 – 0 Top 20 – 1 (Haddad-Maya) Top 30 – 2 (Lynette, Kirstya) Top 40 – 1 (Kostyuk) Top 50 – 2 (Stearns, Stevens).
3rd place. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova – 44 points
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 32, rose considerably in the rankings during the last quarter and almost broke into the top 20. Anastasia reached the semi-finals twice: in Linz and Doha. But the main thing is that Pavlyuchenkova defeated the best tennis players 10 times, the best of which Marketa Vondrousova was in the top 10 at that time.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 21st racket in the world Ranking as of January 1, 2024 – 60 January-March 2024 results: Auckland – 1st round Adelaide – 1/4 final JSC – 2nd round Linz – 1/2 final (1) Doha – 1/2 final (2) Dubai – 2nd round San Diego – 1/ Final 4 Indian Wells – 4th round Miami – 3rd round Wins/losses – 8/17 Top 5 – 0 Top 10 – 1 (Vondroushova) Top 20 – 3 (Haddad-Maja (2), Kasatkina) Top 30 – 3 (Vekic, Mertens, Kostyuk) Top 40 – 1 (Bouzkova) Top 50 – 2 (Sinyakova, Xinyu Wang).
Second place. Anna Kalinskaya – 50 points
25-year-old Anna Kalinskaya started the season as the 80th racket in the world and on April 1 she was ranked 24th. More than 50 places in the ranking is the best result among all Russian women during this period. Anna has two excellent performances to her credit: she reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and the final of the thousandth tournament in Dubai. But the main thing is that Kalinskaya twice defeated tennis players from the top 5: Cori Gauff and Iga Swiatek in Dubai, and also three times stronger than the tennis players who occupied places from 6 to 10. Who knows, the Russian could have score even more points if he had not retired in the fourth round in Miami.
Anna Kalinskaya 24th racket in the world Ranking as of January 1, 2024 – 80 January-March 2024 results: Brisbane – 2nd round Adelaide – 2nd round AO – 1/4 final (2) Doha – 1st round Dubai – final (4) Indian Wells – 3rd round Miami – 4th round Wins/losses – 6/18 Top 5 – 2 (Gauff, Swiatek) Top 10 – 3 (Krejcikova, Ostapenko (2)) Top 20 – 0 Top 30 – 0 Top 40 – 1 (Paolini) Top 50 – 2 (Rus, Stevens).
👑 1st place. Ekaterina Alexandrova – 50 points
29-year-old Ekaterina Alexandrova was in the shadows for a long time in our race and only on the flag itself she achieved first place. She helped an excellent performance at the thousandth event in Miami, where the Russian reached the semifinals, simultaneously defeating two top 5 tennis players: Iga Swiatek and Jessica Pegula. Overall, Ekaterina has the best winning record over top-5 opponents; she also defeated Elena Rybakina in Adelaide. As a result, Alexandrova scored 50 points, exactly the same as Anna Kalinskaya. But thanks to an additional indicator – a place in the WTA ranking – it was Ekaterina Alexandrova who became the best tennis player in Russia in the first quarter of 2024 according to the “Championship”.
Ekaterina Alexandrova 15th racket in the world Ranking as of January 1, 2024 – 21 January-March 2024 results: Brisbane – 2nd round Adelaide – 1/2 final (1) AO – 1st round Linz – final (2) Doha – 3rd round Dubai – 1st round Indian Wells – 2nd round Miami – 1/ 2 end (2) Wins/losses – 12/8 Top 5 – 3 (Rybakina, Swiatek, Pegula) Top 10 – 0 Top 20 – 1 (Kudermetova) Top 30 – 3 (Lynette, Potapova, Pavlyuchenkova) Top 40 – 2 (Vekic (2)) Top-50 – 0.
