The race for the WTA No. 1 could not be more wide open, especially with Serena Williams taking the rest of the year off and Angelique Kerber unable to maintain her 2016 form.

Advertising

Simona Halep looked ready to take the top spot when she was up a set and 3-0 in the French Open final, but she couldn’t hold on against Jelena Ostapenko’s powerful strokes. At Wimbledon, Halep needed to defeat Johanna Konta in the quarterfinals for the No. 1 ranking, but she lost again. If she ever gets there, she'd become the first WTA No. 1 from Romania.

Advertising

Meanwhile, Karolina Pliskova slipped into the top ranking with a second-round defeat at Wimbledon. She is the 23rd WTA player and first female Czech player to achieve the feat. Despite the early loss at the All England Club, she has been consistent in big tournaments including her 2016 US Open final and French Open semifinal run.

Pliskova holds titles at Eastbourne, Doha, Brisbane and Cincinnati. She has joined a short list of players who got to No. 1 without (or before) winning a major:

The summer stretch run to the U.S. Open series could see the No. 1 battle go to several different players. There are now eight players separated by 804 points in the 2017 Road to Singapore with Halep holding the slight lead.

Pliskova will need to defend big points at Cincinnati and the US Open. The top spot could be seized by the player who wins in New York.

Advertising

It could be Muguruza with her recent boost of Wimbledon confidence:

Advertising

Johanna Konta has continued her upswing in big matches, and she already has the Miami title on American hard courts:

Or maybe Elina Svitolina or Caroline Woznaicki will produce a torrid run?

Advertising

Kerber is still No. 3, she's not to be counted out quite yet. While Halep has been knocking on the door for a long time (she first rose to No. 2 in 2014).

“Yeah, now that I’m so close, it’s like it’s coming more into my mind and into my soul," Halep said in late June. “I really want to get there. But I’m close, but still far... So I have just to take match by match and to do everything I can to be No.1. It’s going to be a big thing for me.”

Follow Jeremy on Twitter: @JeremyEckstein1