ST PETERSBURG, FL, USA - The WTA) announced today that Hungary’s Timea Babos is set to attain the WTA World No.1 doubles ranking on Monday, July 16 for the first time in her career.
Babos, who is currently through to the quarterfinal stage at Wimbledon with partner Kristina Mladenovic, is set to become the 39th woman to reach the WTA World No.1 doubles ranking. She will also become the first from her country of Hungary to reach the top ranking in doubles or singles.
“I am honored to become to new WTA World No.1 in doubles,” said Babos. “I’ve worked so hard to get here and I’m happy to prove to myself that all of my hard work was worth it. I also want to thank my coach Thomas Drouet for an amazing five years together.”
“I am very excited for Timea as she is truly deserving of the WTA World No.1 doubles ranking,” said WTA CEO and Chairman Steve Simon. “Congratulations to Timea on achieving this amazing milestone in her career.”
Following Andrea Sestini Hlavackova and Barbora Strycova's loss to former WTA Doubles No.1 Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova at the All England Club, the 25-year-old Timea Babos will reach the top spot on the WTA doubles rankings on the Monday following Wimbledon.
Babos, who already leads the Porsche Race to Singapore leaderboard alongside partner Mladenovic, was the front runner to usurp the No.1 ranking currently held by Russians Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina. Outlasting competition from Makarova, Sestini Hlavackova, and former No.1 Latisha Chan, Babos and Mladenovic aim to capture their second major title of 2018 at Wimbledon, having reached the third round on Saturday.
The Hungarian has forged multiple successful partnerships in her career thus far, qualifying for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global for three consecutive years with three different partners: Mladenovic, Yaroslava Shvedova, and Sestini Hlavackova, with whom she won the title. With Shvedova, she finished runner-up at the 2016 Wimbledon Championships.
The Hungarian has enjoyed a remarkable season, starting off with lifting her career first Grand Slam doubles trophy at the Australian Open, as well as a runner-up finish at the Mutua Madrid Open before capturing her 18th career doubles title at the Nature Valley Classic in Birmingham (with Mladenovic).
Babos has reached at least one doubles final in each of the last seven seasons, most notably lifting the Martina Navratilova Doubles Trophy at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global in 2017 (with Sestini Hlavackova). In addition to her Australian Open title this year, Babos is a two-time Wimbledon finalist in 2014 (with Mladenovic) and 2016 (with Shvedova).
Babos’ doubles career has translated well into her singles play, having reached eight singles finals in her career, including her third WTA title earlier this season at the Taiwan Open.
