We reached mid-February and the WTA season continues advancing, with the prize money leaders updating with several movements – especially after the first WTA 1000 of the year at the Qatar Open, where Czech player Karolina Muchova ended up claiming the title by defeating teenager Victoria Mboko in the final.
Precisely Muchova and Mboko are the names that benefited the most in terms of prize money this past week, moving into the top-6 – only behind the 5 current leaders of the Tour (both in ranking and prize money).
The first place is held by Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina, who even increased her distance over her immediate pursuers following a deep run in Doha.
2026 Aussie Open champion Elena Rybakina surpasses $2.8M
The Kazakh reached the quarterfinals in Brisbane and Doha, in addition to her title at the first major of the year. Although her 9-match winning streak was cut, she remains more than $1 million ahead of second place Aryan Sabalenka ($1.6M) – and with the Belarusian’s absence confirmed in Dubai this week, the gaps will be even larger next week.
In any case, the podium remains intact with the same protagonists, with Coco Gauff staying in third place, practically tied with Iga Swiatek (with less than $1,000 difference). The American was eliminated early in the first round in Qatar and saw Swiatek closing in – threatening to push her out of the top-3.
Despite doubts about the Polish player’s level, she reached the quarterfinals in Qatar, earning her almost $100K to add to her wallet and allowing her to surpass $1 million in earnings this week.
Muchova and Mboko surge into top-6 after Qatar Open final
In fact, there are only 6 players who have already surpassed $1 million in earnings – the last two to achieve it were precisely the protagonists of the Doha final. Muchova finally lifted her first WTA 1000 title and only the second trophy of her career, which earned her more than $600K in prize money – quickly placing her inside the top-5 in prize money for the season.
The runner-up, Mboko, took $385K in what was her second final of the year, rising to the top-6. For the Canadian, she totals $986K in singles earnings – but a couple of doubles appearances give her a final boost to surpass the $1 million mark this year.
Svitolina and Pegula maintain strong start
In the top-10, doubles world No. 1 Elise Mertens sneaks in – accumulating almost $300K in doubles earnings, which add to her nearly $650K in singles. The Belgian has been consistent in singles and dominant in doubles. If we considered only her singles performance, she would barely make the top-10 – which is already notable for Mertens – but combined with her strong doubles presence, she is able to rise much higher.
Lower down is Belinda Bencic – largely thanks to her remarkable campaign at the United Cup – and closing the top-10 are the Australian Open semifinalists: Jessica Pegula and Elina Svitolina, who have been consistent at the start of the year – especially the Ukrainian, who also won her first title of the season at the WTA 250 ASB Classic earlier this year.
Year to Date Prize Money Leaders
StandingNameSinglesDoublesTotal1Elena Rybakina2,82M2,82M2Aryna Sabalenka1,61M7,8K1,61M3Coco Gauff1,07M5,8K1,07M4Iga Swiatek1,07M1,07M5Karolina Muchova1,05M7,8K1,06M6Victoria Mboko986K26K1,01M7Elise Mertens649K291K941K8Belinda Bencic932K932K9Jessica Pegula886K14K901K10Elina Svitolina896K1K897K11Mirra Andreeva583K7,8K591K12Jasmine Paolini539K50K589K13Jelena Ostapenko387K160K547K14Iva Jovic520K23K543K15Amanda Anisimova531K531K16Maria Sakkari497K497K17Barbora Krejcikova446K14K460K18Shuai Zhang121K333K454K19Xinyu Wang370K26K396K20Naomi Osaka382K382K21Madison Keys382K382K22Clara Tauson323K45K368K23Anna Kalinskaya342K14K356K24Yulia Putintseva342K342K25Diana Shnaider316K23K339K26Maddison Inglis311K14K325K27Ekaterina Alexandrova270K53K323K28Hailey Baptiste293K30K323K29Maya Joint234K79K313K30Sara Bejlek287K14K301K31Emma Raducanu299K299K32Storm Hunter249K45K294K33Aleksandra Krunic10K280K291K34Linda Noskova258K25K283K35Anna Danilina280K280K36Katerina Siniakova189K91K280K37Tereza Valentova268K9K277K38Magda Linette252K22K274K39Peyton Stearns238K30K268K40Anastasia Potapova246K21K266K41Karolina Pliskova265K265K42Zeynep Sonmez253K253K43Elisabetta Cocciaretto237K14K252K44Kimberly Birrell188K60K248K45Elena-Gabriela Ruse240K2K242K46Jessica Bouzas Maneiro223K14K238K47Oksana Selekhmeteva233K233K48Liudmila Samsonova201K32K232K49Marta Kostyuk232K232K50Solana Sierra216K15K231K51Marie Bouzkova195K35K230K52Talia Gibson172K58K230K53Janice Tjen196K34K230K54Sorana Cirstea212K14K226K55Ann Li211K14K225K56Cristina Bucsa142K81K223K57Eva Lys208K14K222K58Nikola Bartunkova221K221K59Elsa Jacquemot193K26K220K60McCartney Kessler197K14K212K61Laura Siegemund168K42K210K62Sofia Kenin155K55K210K63Daria Kasatkina189K21K210K64Varvara Gracheva201K201K65Paula Badosa191K7,8K199K66Alycia Parks184K14K198K67Taylah Preston172K22K194K68Alexandra Eala166K27K193K69Priscilla Hon171K22K193K70Leylah Fernandez160K32K192K71Dayana Yastremska174K18K191K72Magdalena Frech190K190K73Ashlyn Krueger175K14K189K74Anna Bondar169K15K184K75Camila Osorio168K14K182K76Jaqueline Cristian165K16K182K77Emma Navarro178K178K78Olga Danilovic157K21K178K79Ajla Tomljanovic177K177K80Caty McNally159K16K175K81Moyuka Uchijima172K172K82Sonay Kartal157K14K172K83Polina Kudermetova167K0,6K168K84Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova140K21K161K85Julia Grabher160K160K86Suzan Lamens145K14K159K87Emiliana Arango135K22K156K88Su-Wei Hsieh154K154K89Vera Zvonareva50K104K154K90Linda Fruhvirtova153K153K91Petra Marcinko152K152K92Tatjana Maria138K14K152K93Linda Klimovicova150K150K94Renata Zarazua134K16K150K95Emerson Jones134K14K148K96Taylor Townsend97K51K148K97Kamilla Rakhimova119K28K146K98Zhuoxuan Bai146K146K99Simona Waltert131K14K145K100Beatriz Haddad Maia141K141K
