Iga Swiatek to drop out of Top 2 for first time in more than three years after early loss in Rome

There was a major surprise in Rome on Saturday, as Iga Swiatek—who had won the title three of the last four years, and who didn’t even drop a set en route to last year’s title—was stunned in straight sets in the third round of the WTA 1000 event this year by Danielle Collins, 6-1, 7-5.

And with that, her streak in the Top 2 will come to an end.

Swiatek will now drop from No. 2 to at least No. 4 when the next WTA rankings are published following the tournament, on Monday, May 19th.

Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula will be ranked No. 2 and No. 3 in some order, depending on their results the rest of the tournament, and Jasmine Paolini has a chance of bumping Swiatek down even further to No. 5 should she go on to capture the title in the Italian capital.

When those new rankings are out, it will end Swiatek’s streak of 165 consecutive weeks inside the Top 2 since she first rose to No. 2 on March 21st, 2022. She spent 125 of those weeks at No. 1, and she’ll have spent 40 of them at No. 2, including next week (Rome is a two-week event).

Swiatek came into Rome with 6,773 ranking points, but she’ll drop 935—replacing the 1,000 she earned from winning the title last year with 65 for a third-round finish this year—leaving her with 5,838.

As of right now, Gauff and Pegula are both into the third round of Rome, too, and their live points are both above Swiatek’s already—at 6,278 and 6,200, respectively—so they’ll both be guaranteed to pass her.

Pegula needs at least a quarterfinal to pass Gauff, and if they both reach the quarterfinals, whoever does better from there will leave Rome as No. 2. For Pegula it would be a new career-high ranking, but for Gauff it would just be a return to the career-high she first reached last year.

Paolini is already through to the fourth round in Rome after a straight-set victory over former world No. 2 Ons Jabeur on Saturday.