Birrell, Hunter end season as Australia’s top-ranked women
Kimberly Birrell finishes the 2023 season as the top-ranked Australian in singles, while Storm Hunter is the world's top-ranked doubles player.
Australia, 7 November 2023 | Leigh Rogers
Women’s singles
Kimberly Birrell is the top-ranked Australian in the WTA Tour’s year-end singles rankings, which were released today.
It is the first time the 25-year-old from the Gold Coast has finished a season as the Aussie No.1.
Birrell’s highlights from a career-best season include eight top-100 victories, a top-100 debut and most importantly, staying healthy following a horror run with injuries that threatened to prematurely end her career.
World No.113 Birrell is also set to lead the Australian team at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Spain this week, which marks her first appearance in the team competition in more than four years.
> READ: Birrell – “It is such a privilege and honour to represent Australia again”
Other Aussie woman to make impressive ranking gains in the past 12 months include Astra Sharma, Olivia Gadecki, Arina Rodionova, Storm Hunter and Destanee Aiava.
Taylah Preston, an 18-year-old from Perth, is the biggest riser within the Australian top 15. The teenage talent ends a breakout year, which netted three ITF singles title, at a career-high world No.244.
Ajla Tomljanovic, who was the top-ranked Australian at the end of the 2022 season, finishes an injury-marred year at world No.549. The 30-year-old has played only four tour-level matches since undergoing knee surgery in January.
| Player | Year-end ranking | Difference in 12 months | |
| 1 | Kimberly Birrell | No.113 | +54 |
| 2 | Astra Sharma | No.120 | +111 |
| 3 | Olivia Gadecki | No.132 | +69 |
| 4 | Arina Rodionova | No.148 | +149 |
| 5 | Storm Hunter | No.172 | +65 |
| 6 | Destanee Aiava | No.186 | +216 |
| 7 | Jaimee Fourlis | No.204 | -42 |
| 8 | Daria Saville | No.206 | -153 |
| 9 | Priscilla Hon | No.210 | -59 |
| 10 | Seone Mendez | No.241 | +79 |
| 11 | Taylah Preston | No.244 | +362 |
| 12 | Maddison Inglis | No.277 | -100 |
| 13 | Lizette Cabrera | No.281 | +15 |
| 14 | Talia Gibson | No.301 | +63 |
| 15 | Tina Smith | No.403 | +337 |
> VIEW: Full WTA Tour year-end singles rankings
Women’s doubles
Storm Hunter becomes only the second Australian woman – and first in 17 years – to finish the season as year-end world No.1 in doubles.
The 29-year-old formed a strong partnership with Belgian Elise Mertens in 2023. They won WTA 1000 titles at Rome and Guadalajara, were Wimbledon finalists and most recently, progressed to the semifinals at the WTA Finals.
That latest result was enough to propel Hunter above American duo Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff at the top of the rankings.
Ellen Perez records her highest year-end ranking at world No.17. The 28-year-old also finished an outstanding season strongly, as the first Australian in 15 years to advance to the doubles final at the WTA Finals.
Olivia Gadecki and Destanee Aiava have been two of the most consistent performers at ITF level this season, winning six and seven titles respectively.
This has helped the 21-year-old Gadecki and 23-year-old Aiava make giant ranking strides and soar to new career-highs in the past year.
| Player | Year-end ranking | Difference in 12 months | |
| 1 | Storm Hunter | No.1 | +9 |
| 2 | Ellen Perez | No.17 | +3 |
| 3 | Olivia Gadecki | No.96 | +634 |
| 4 | Destanee Aiava | No.162 | +123 |
| 5 | Daria Saville | No.168 | -15 |
| 6 | Olivia Tjandramulia | No.174 | -70 |
| 7 | Talia Gibson | No.189 | +95 |
| 8 | Astra Sharma | No.204 | -87 |
| 9 | Priscilla Hon | No.208 | +132 |
| 10 | Elysia Bolton | No.210 | +64 |
| 11 | Alexandra Bozovic | No.211 | +15 |
| 12 | Kimberly Birrell | No.233 | +18 |
| 13 | Petra Hule | No.239 | +190 |
| 14 | Alana Parnaby | No.265 | -43 |
| 15 | Kaylah McPhee | No.270 | +580 |
> VIEW: Full WTA Tour year-end doubles rankings
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