Coco Gauff under pressure as clay season puts points at risk
Elena Rybakina and Coco Gauff are heading into the clay court season from very different positions. Rybakina has just reached a new career high in the rankings, building on her strong start to 2026, which included a title run at the Australian Open.
Photo by Andy Cheung/Getty Images Elena Rybakina and Coco Gauff are heading into the clay court season from very different positions. Rybakina has just reached a new career high in the rankings, building on her strong start to 2026, which included a title run at the Australian Open. The two-time Grand Slam champion will now turn her focus towards closing the gap to Aryna Sabalenka.
Rybakina has made it clear that reaching world number one is one of her main goals this season. She could take a step closer during the clay swing, while Gauff faces the possibility of sliding down the rankings if she can’t defend last year’s points. WTA Top 10: Ranking points on the line during this year’s clay season Photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images Gauff was last year’s standout performer on clay, reaching the finals in Madrid and Rome before lifting her second Grand Slam trophy at Roland Garros.
This means Gauff is set to defend a massive 3,408 points during this year’s clay stretch, which makes up almost half of her ranking total. Early projections have Gauff dropping to world number six after the clay season unless she can match last year’s results. Rybakina faces a different scenario.
She has only 870 points to defend from last season, putting less pressure on her across the next few months. The current gap between Sabalenka and Rybakina stands at 2,917 points. But that could shrink to under 1,000 depending on how they each perform over the coming months.