Jessica Pegula puts Iga Swiatek’s World No. 2 ranking under pressure following her triumph at the WTA 500 Charleston Open. Over the past year, the American has secured four titles and reached four additional finals. Meanwhile, Swiatek faces a tough challenge in boosting her ranking due to the significant number of points she must defend. The five-time Grand Slam champion had an outstanding clay-court season last year, capturing titles at the Madrid Open, Italian Open, and Roland Garros. However, even replicating that success this year would only allow her to hold onto her current points, making it difficult to increase her ranking.
As of Monday, April 7, with no tournaments currently underway, Swiatek holds 7,470 ranking points, while Pegula trails with 6,101 — a gap of 1,369 points. Despite the difference, Swiatek has minimal chances to gain additional points in the coming weeks. Her strong position in the rankings is largely due to her dominant clay-court performance in 2024, where she claimed victories over Aryna Sabalenka in the finals of both the Madrid Open and Italian Open, and secured her fourth Roland Garros title by defeating Jasmine Paolini in the final — capping off an almost flawless clay season.
The Queen of Clay amassed 4,195 points out of a possible 4,500 based on her tournament schedule, boasting a dominant 21-1 record on clay (42-5 in sets). Her sole loss came in the Stuttgart Open semifinals against Elena Rybakina. Following that defeat, she went on an impressive 19-match winning streak, capturing two WTA 1000 titles and the French Open crown.
On the other hand, Pegula just claimed her first career title on clay and enters the next two months with no points to defend, having only played Charleston last year due to injury. With a similar tournament schedule to Swiatek ahead, she has the chance to rack up significant points across a WTA 500, two WTA 1000 events, and the French Open — where a maximum of 2,000 points is up for grabs.
At the start of the year, Swiatek held 7,970 ranking points compared to Pegula’s 4,705 — a difference of over 3,200 points. Since then, that gap has shrunk by nearly 2,000 points. With limited opportunities for Swiatek to earn more points in the coming months, it’s now up to Pegula to continue her rise and potentially achieve a career-high ranking of World No. 2, which would mark Swiatek’s first drop from the top two since April 2022.
