WTA Legends

Sabalenka passes Evert on list of most consecutive weeks at No. 1

Author: Brad Kallet

WTA Legends

1m read 06 Apr 2026 2h ago

Photo by Chris Arjoon/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Summary

Aryna Sabalenka has moved to No. 11 on the all-time list for most consecutive weeks at No. 1, passing Chris Evert's run from 1980-1982. She's only three weeks from tying Martina Hingis for No. 10 all-time.

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With every passing week, it seems, Aryna Sabalenka achieves another milestone, sets another record and continues her ascension in the record books.

Two weekends ago she became the first WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz player since 2022 to sweep the Sunshine Double, and the following Monday she passed Iga Swiatek on the all-time list for most consecutive weeks at No. 1, with 76.

A week later, she's passed another legend.

Now with 77 straights weeks atop the PIF WTA Rankings, Sabalenka has moved to 11th all-time, surpassing 18-time Grand Slam singles champion Chris Evert. (Though it's worth noting that Evert had a longer streak of 113 straight weeks at World No. 1 from 1976-78.)

And the top 10 is in sight. Martina Hingis, currently No. 10 on the all-time list, was World No 1 for 80 straight weeks in 1997 and 1998.

The current top 10 is led by Steffi Graf and Serena Williams (both with 186 straight weeks), followed by Martina Navratilova (156 weeks), Ashleigh Barty (114 weeks), Evert again (113 weeks), Graf again (94 weeks), Monica Seles (91 weeks), Navratilova again (90 weeks), Graf again (87 weeks) and Hingis (80 weeks).

Sabalenka has had an absolute dominant start to the 2026 season, going 23-1 through the first three swings and winning three titles.

She began her campaign with a title in Brisbane, and then lost her only match of the season to Elena Rybakina in the Australian Open final. After skipping the Middle East swing in February, she returned to win her first career Indian Wells title and her second straight Miami Open. In her 12 straight wins in the Sunshine swing, she dropped just two sets, and has taken 47 of 51 sets this year.

The four-time Grand Slam champion has 11,025 rankings points, 2,917 more than second-ranked Rybakina, and is currently atop the PIF Race to the WTA Finals Leaderboard.

Sabalenka is next scheduled to play the WTA 500 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart next week. She's never won the title in Stuttgart, but has reached the final four times.