By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Tuesday November 12, 2024

A fantastic WTA season came to a close over the weekend, and a new year-end No.1 has been crowned. Aryna Sabalenka sits atop the WTA rankings for the first time, while the year-end top 5 has a few familiar faces and a few surprises.

Here are some of the notable names and milestones as we take stock of the WTA rankings one last time.

In the Aryna

It was a year of triumph for Aryna Sabalenka, who added two major titles to her trophy haul, and passed Iga Swiatek to finish a season as the year-end No.1 for the first time. Can she run the table in 2025?

Queenwen Career-High and Top-5 Debut

No doubt about it: China has another megastar. And her name is Queenwen. Zheng Qinwen made history at the Olympics this year, winning gold, but also reached a major final at the Australian Open, and played the final match at the WTA Finals, and her post-Wimbledon power play took her to a year-end finish inside the Top-5.

Boomshki. Zheng’s the first Chinese player to hold a Top-5 ranking since Li Na.



Paolini Power

The biggest breakout story of 2024 came from Italy, where Jasmine Paolini, who owned a 4-16 record at the majors prior to 2024, went 18-4 at the majors and reached the final at Roland-Garros and Wimbledon. She finishes the season at No.4, tied for the highest ranking ever among the Italian women with the great Francesca Schiavone.

Barbora Enters the Chat

She won Wimbledon. That pretty much says it all, but Barbora Krejcikova, now a two-time major champion (and a certain Hall of Famer), also climbed back up the rankings in 2024 with a solid run at the WTA Finals. She finishes the season at No.10.

Emma! (no not that one)

There were three players who made their Top-10 debuts in 2024. You’ve heard about Zheng and Paolini already, but don’t forget American Emma Navarro, who won 45 matches and became a fixture at the Grand Slams as well, reaching the quarterfinal at Wimbledon and the semis at the US Open. She rose from 38 this time last year all the way to a year-end ranking of eight – impressive stuff from the 23-year-old.

Top-20 Breakthroughs

In addition to Zheng, Paolini and Navarro, there were three other players who cracked the Top-20 for the first time in 2024: Diana Shnaider, Anna Kalinskaya and Mirra Andreeva. Shnaider finished at No.12, Kalinskaya No.14 and Andreeva No.16. Perhaps they’ll be entering the Top-10 in 2025!

Young at Heart

Gauff (20) is the youngest player in the Top 10 (unreal that she is still 20!), while Andreeva (17) is the youngest player in the Top 20. Andreeva and Linda Noskova (19, ranked No.26) are the only teenagers that finished the season inside the WTA’s Top 100.

Surging Stars

The biggest surges inside the Top 100 came from a few familiar names.

Naomi Osaka finishes the year at No. 59. She was ranked 831 at the Australian Open. Strangely, the best match she played in 2024 was actually a loss to Iga Swiatek at Roland-Garros. She was incredible in that contest – the Naomi of old – until she let it slip away. Look for Osaka to continue her steady climb next season. That champion’s pedigree is just getting dusted off.
Emma Raducanu jumped 227 spots from 285 this time last year to No.58, while Amanda Anisimova rose from 359 to No.36. Ajla Tomljanovic powered from 464 to No.85, and Caroline Wozniacki jumped from 236 to No.72.