Top five players with most wins in 2024 WTA season

As the WTA Tour's regular season draws to a close, a retrospective look at the numbers is probably going to show some unexpected findings. Expected outcomes and a comeback from unexpected quarters characterized the 2024 season's intriguing mix of events. 

Iga Swiatek winning her fifth Grand Slam to Aryna Sabalenka making further inroads into the hard-court season by defending her Australian Open title and picking up the US Open trophy in 2024 were among the results that were on expected lines.

However, it was a welcome surprise when Barbora Krejicokva won her second Grand Slam championship at Wimbledon, three years after she had won her Roland Garros title. She was joined by another veteran, Danielle Collins, who postponed her retirement plans after winning the WTA 500 Charleston Open and the WTA 1000 Miami Open, her biggest victories.

The 2024 season will likely end in a cliffhanger as the tussle for the year-ending World No. 1 ranking will continue at the WTA Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Throughout the 2024 season, the big names continued to assemble victories, set records, and add to their collection of trophies.

Here are five women on the tour with the most wins in the 2024 WTA season.

5. Jessica Pegula (38-15)

Like the previous season, Jessica Pegula's 2024 started off slowly before picking up steam in the latter stages. In 2023, the American's pivotal moment came when she won the National Bank Open in Canada; this year, it started when she took home the Ecotrans Ladies Open in June.

The month of August saw the World No. #4 with a 15-2 win-loss record. Jessica Pegula won her second title of the season after Berlin when she went on to defend her National Bank Open title. She went on to reach the Cincinnati Open finals and for the first time, the title round at the US Open for her maiden Grand Slam final.

In the current season, she is 38-13 before the year-ending Finals. Pegula has been in the top 10 since June 2022 and has won a WTA 1000 title each year since 2022. Pegula became the second player this century to achieve the feat after winning the Canadian championship for the second time in a row, joining Martina Hingis (1999–2000). 

4. Elena Rybakina (42-11)

The 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina began 2024 with a strong victory at the Brisbane Open. It was the first of her three titles this season. Later, Rybakina won championships in Stuttgart and Abu Dhabi.

However, the injury-prone player could not turn up to defend her WTA 1000 titles at Indian Wells and Rome. The Kazakh also missed the US Open with a lower back injury and the Olympics and Toronto because of a case of bronchitis.

Rybakina finished with a 41-9 record despite missing the majority of the season due to injury. With seven losses, the World No. #5 has lost two fewer games than Swiatek, who is the only player this season with single-figure losses.

Rybakina concluded the two-month period between February and April with a 19-3 record, which was bookended by victories at the Abu Dhabi Open and the Tennis Grand Prix. She lost to eventual Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova in three sets after making it back to the round of four. 

3. Coco Gauff (52-16)

Coco Gauff has experienced oscillating fortunes in 2024. Her career-high ranking of No. #2 in June was lost by mid-August, she dropped out of the top five in September, and she is now ranked No. #3, where she was in May.

Gauff, 20, lost to Sabalenka in Melbourne and Swiatek in Paris after making it to the semi-finals of both events. She also lost to fellow countrywoman Emma Navarro in three sets in New York, failing to advance past the fourth round.

45 days after losing to Yulia Putintseva in the Cincinnati Open round of 32, the American won the WTA 1000 China Open for the first time. Last year, Gauff defeated Karolina Muchova in straight sets to win the WTA 1000 event.

Her season's favorable 48-15 win-loss record was largely influenced by her semi-final appearances at Melbourne, Indian Wells, Rome, Paris, Berlin, and Wuhan, as well as the title run in Beijing.

2. Aryna Sabalenka (56-14)

The 2024 season saw Swiatek dominate the first half, but Aryna Sabalenka took center stage in the second half. Since mid-August, the 26-year-old has had an incredible run. She finished with a 20-1 record during that time, winning WTA 1000 titles in Wuhan and Cincinnati, taking home the US Open, and making it to the final four of the WTA 1000 China Open. In Wuhan, Sabalenka became the first player to achieve a three-peat.

The new World No. 1 won the Australian Open for the second time in a row to start the season. After replacing Swiatek, she is currently in her tenth week at the top. In September, one month after Swiatek, Sabalenka became the second player to earn a spot in the year-end Finals.

The only players on the circuit with multiple WTA 1000 titles in 2024 are Swiatek and Sabalenka. At the WTA 1000 level, Sabalenka won two trophies, while the World No. #2 took home four. 

Like last year, the Minsk native has been a consistent performer in Grand Slams, reaching at least the quarter-finals when she turned up to play. In 2023, Sabalenka reached the last four or better at all the Majors. Just ahead of Swiatek (45), the courageous Sabalenka has won 46 matches overall across the Grand Slams and WTA 1000 events.

1. Iga Swiatek (56-8)

Iga Swiatek leads the list for players with most wins in the 2024 WTA season. She is the most dominant player this season with five titles and a 54-7 win-loss record. Shortly after the conclusion of the Paris Olympics, she became the first person to earn a spot in the year-ending Finals. Swiatek has five fewer losses than the Belarusian, but she and Sabalenka lead the field with 54 victories apiece.   

Swiatek went on a winning spree in the first half of the season, between February and June. Throughout those five months, she won her fourth French Open title and four WTA 1000 titles (Qatar, Indian Wells, Madrid, and Rome). The Pole came away with impressive figures of 39-3 between winning the Qatar Open and the French Open. 

Unfortunately for Swiatek, she missed out on defending her 2023 China Open title, skipped the entire Asian swing, and gave up the World No. 1 ranking to Aryna Sabalenka after losing in the quarterfinals of the New York Open. 

Cover Credits - Tennis.com