Navarro breaks into Top 8, Pegula surges ahead

The North American summer hard-court swing is highlighted by back-to-back WTA 1000 tournaments at Toronto and Cincinnati — critical back-to-back weeks on the road to qualifying for the WTA Finals.

The champions at the WTA 1000 events earn 1,000 points for each event, while the runner-up collects 650 points, the semifinalists 390 points and the quarterfinalists 215 points.

Which players made the biggest splash in the PIF Race to the WTA Finals? Here’s a look:

A shakeup following Toronto

Last week, Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff were the only two players in the Top 8 of the Race leaderboard competing at the WTA 1000 event in Toronto. Sabalenka advanced to the quarterfinals, while Gauff reached the Round of 16, solidifying their positions at No.3 and No.5, respectively.

Emma Navarro advanced to the semifinals at a WTA 1000 for the first time in her career, earning 390 points. Navarro boosted her standing on the leaderboard from No.11 to No.7.

Navarro was the only player to crack the Top 8 this week.

Toronto champion Jessica Pegula leaped nine spots after collecting 1,000 race points. Pegula climbed from No.20 to No.11, closing within 100 points of the No.8 spot, with only 10 tournament weeks remaining.

There was also a shakeup on the PIF Race to the WTA Finals doubles leaderboard as finalists Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe moved to No.2 (from No.3). Toronto champions Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk climbed to No.3 (from No.6), while the American duo of Sofia Kenin and Bethanie Mattek-Sands cracked the Top 8 (at No.8, up from No.11) with a semifinal run.

Swiatek qualifies

The WTA Finals defending champion Iga Swiatek booked her return last week with the announcement of her qualification, marking her fourth consecutive qualification. Swiatek has held the top on the PIF Race to the WTA Finals since March and currently holds a 2,564-point lead.

The evolution of Iga Swiatek at the WTA Finals

Eye on Grand Slam champions

The WTA Finals will feature the eight best players in 2024. The Top 7 players will secure qualification for the WTA Finals with the eighth spot going to either a Grand Slam champion — ranked in the Top 20 — or to the eighth position on the leaderboard.

As it currently stands, the three Grand Slam champions so far this season — Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka and Barbora Krejcikova are all in the Top 8.

Setting the stage

This week, the tour visits Cincinnati for the Cincinnati Open for another WTA 1000-level event. Although no other players can confirm qualification this week, they can earn valuable race points. Six of the Top 8 are in action this week, with another 10 players within striking distance of the Top 8:

• Mirra Andreeva, Diana Shnaider and Donna Vekic can reach the Top 8 by winning the title
• Victoria Azarenka and Marta Kostyuk would need to reach the final
• Daria Kasatkina and Anna Kalinskaya would need to reach the semifinals
• Jelena Ostapenko, Qinwen Zheng and Jessica Pegula would need to win their opening match