This article uses ranking data from our database, which covers the period from November 2000 to the present. Players whose No.1 tenure began before that date — notably Martina Hingis and Lindsay Davenport — have career totals higher than shown here.
The WTA world No.1 ranking has been held by 22 players since the ranking system was introduced in 1975. Since November 2000, our database records every weekly ranking snapshot. Over that period, one player’s total stands in a category of its own.
The all-time leaders (November 2000 – June 2026)
| Player | Country | Weeks at No.1 | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| S. Williams | USA | 297 | Jul 2002 – Jun 2017 |
| I. Swiatek | POL | 125 | Apr 2022 – Oct 2024 |
| A. Barty | AUS | 119 | Jun 2019 – Mar 2022 |
| J. Henin | BEL | 117 | Oct 2003 – May 2008 |
| A. Sabalenka | BLR | 95* | Sep 2023 – present |
| C. Wozniacki | DEN | 71 | Oct 2010 – Feb 2018 |
| L. Davenport | USA | 70† | Nov 2001 – Jan 2006 |
| S. Halep | ROU | 64 | Oct 2017 – Jan 2019 |
| V. Azarenka | BLR | 51 | Jan 2012 – Feb 2013 |
| M. Hingis | SUI | 46† | Nov 2000 – Oct 2001 |
| A. Mauresmo | FRA | 39 | Sep 2004 – Nov 2006 |
| D. Safina | RUS | 26 | Apr 2009 – Oct 2009 |
| A. Kerber | GER | 26 | Sep 2016 – Jul 2017 |
| N. Osaka | JPN | 25 | Jan 2019 – Sep 2019 |
| M. Sharapova | RUS | 21 | Aug 2005 – Jul 2012 |
| K. Clijsters | BEL | 20 | Aug 2003 – Feb 2011 |
| J. Jankovic | SRB | 18 | Aug 2008 – Jan 2009 |
| J. Capriati | USA | 17 | Oct 2001 – Jun 2002 |
| A. Ivanovic | SRB | 12 | Jun 2008 – Sep 2008 |
| V. Williams | USA | 11 | Feb 2002 – Jul 2002 |
| K. Pliskova | CZE | 8 | Jul 2017 – Sep 2017 |
| G. Muguruza | ESP | 4 | Sep 2017 – Oct 2017 |
* Sabalenka is the current world No.1 as of June 2026 — her total continues to grow.
† Davenport and Hingis both held No.1 before our data begins in November 2000. Their career totals exceed what is shown here.
Serena Williams: 297 weeks
Serena Williams’ 297 weeks at No.1 across fifteen years is the defining number in this table. She first reached No.1 in July 2002 and last held it in June 2017.
Put differently: Serena spent more weeks at No.1 than Swiatek and Barty combined (125 + 119 = 244). Her 297 weeks represents a form of dominance in women’s tennis that has not been approached before or since.
Her weeks at No.1 were not continuous. She reached No.1, lost it, returned, lost it again — across fifteen years and through injury, personal challenges, and generational changes in the draw. The total accumulation of 297 is a measure not of one sustained run but of repeated returns to the top.
Swiatek: 125 weeks in 30 months
Iga Swiatek reached No.1 in April 2022 and last held it in October 2024 — accumulating 125 weeks at the top across that period. She then dropped out of the top 2 following the end of the clay season and currently sits at No.3.
Those 125 weeks were built almost entirely on clay dominance. She won Roland Garros four times and accumulated ranking points at a rate that no other surface-specific performance could match. On grass and hard courts, her results were strong but not dominant — Wimbledon, where she has never reached the final, is the clearest gap in her record.
Barty’s 119 weeks and a different kind of total
Ashleigh Barty accumulated 119 weeks at No.1 across three separate periods before retiring in March 2022 at the age of 25 — still ranked No.1. She is the only player in the modern era to retire from tennis while holding the world No.1 ranking.
Her total has a finality that none of the others share. Every other player on this list eventually fell out of the top ranking through competitive results. Barty chose to stop.
Henin’s 117: the most compact sustained dominance
Justine Henin’s 117 weeks were concentrated between October 2003 and May 2008 — under five years. She first reached No.1 on 20 October 2003, the date our data records as her debut at the top of the rankings. Her 117 weeks represent all of her career No.1 time.
Sabalenka: 95 weeks and counting
Aryna Sabalenka first reached No.1 in September 2023 and currently holds the ranking. At 95 weeks and rising, she has already passed Wozniacki and Davenport. If she holds the top ranking for another year, she will approach Henin’s 117 and Barty’s 119.
Whether she reaches Swiatek’s 125 depends largely on the clay season. Swiatek’s total was built on Roland Garros dominance; without a comparable clay record, Sabalenka’s path to the highest totals runs through consistency across all surfaces — which her record already demonstrates.
A note on Hingis and Davenport
Martina Hingis held No.1 for 46 weeks within our data window (November 2000 to October 2001), but her career total is substantially higher. She first reached No.1 in March 1997 at the age of 16 and spent the majority of 1997, 1998, and 1999 at the top of the rankings. Her actual career total of weeks at No.1 is approximately 209 — second only to Serena Williams in the history of women’s tennis.
Lindsay Davenport’s 70 weeks in our database similarly understates her career total. She was also No.1 in 1998 and 1999, periods not captured in our data.
All data from the Baseline Rank database. Weekly WTA rankings coverage begins 27 November 2000. Access full historical rankings via the Baseline Rank API.