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Serena Williams at Australian Open 2020

Serena Williams replaced by Sabalenka in the top 10


Aryna Sabalenka has replaced 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams in the WTA top 10 following a nine-match winning streak and two titles in the space of three weeks.

The Belarusian moved up to tenth place in the newly released rankings after her triumph at the Linz Open last week. Sabalenka won the title with a straight set victory over her doubles partner Elise Mertens in the final yesterday, having only dropped one set all tournament.

Yesterday’s win capped a superb end to the season for the new World No. 10. Victory in Linz brought Sabalenka her second consecutive title, having also beaten both Coco Gauff and Victoria Azarenka en route to the Ostrava Open title last month.

It underlines quite a remarkable turnaround from 10 games into her quarter-final match with Sara Sorribes Tormo in Ostrava. Sabalenka was 6-0 4-0 down, before turning the match on its head to clinch a 0-6 6-4 6-0 victory. She then went on to take the title in Ostrava without dropping a set, before backing that up by taking the title in Linz last week.

Serena Williams, meanwhile, has not played since pulling out of the French Open with an injury. The current coronavirus pandemic has wiped out the remainder of the WTA season, meaning that Williams will have to wait until January for her opportunity to climb back into the top 10.


Tim Farthing, Tennishead Editorial Director & Owner, has been a huge tennis fan his whole life. He's a tennis journalist and entrepreneur as well as playing tennis to a national standard. He also helps manage his local club and volunteers for his local tennis organisation. He's a specialist in content about the administration of professional tennis and tennis coaching for all levels.