In a move that has been on the horizon since last year, the adjustment to the WTA rankings system has officially taken effect January 1, 2024. The modification shifts the calculation methodology for rankings from a player’s best 16 tournaments in the last 12 months to the best 18 tournaments, aligning it with the ATP system.

The changes are immediate, which means that every player’s rankings are recalculated based on the best-of-18 tournament methodology. This led to some big changes in the rankings, especially for lower-ranked players. You can check out the latest rankings on the WTA website.

For doubles, the WTA will move from best of 11 to best of 12 tournaments for the rankings. Interestingly, the WTA decided to keep the maximum number of tournaments to 12 for doubles, and not increase it to 18 like they did for singles.

However, this adjustment to rankings seems to contradict recent worries about the duration of the tennis season and insufficient breaks within the tennis season. In recent years, WTA has had to deal with many players getting injured during the season and taking a mental break from the sport.