By Chris Oddo | Wednesday December 27 15, 2017
Like it was at so many big events in 2017, the WTA’s top ranking will be in play when the first week of the 2018 season kicks off on December 31st at three different venues.
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Simona Halep finished the season with a 40-point lead over Garbiñe Muguruza and a 160-point lead over Caroline Wozniacki. All three will be in action next week with a shot to take over the No.1 ranking and claim top seeding at the Australian Open.
Halep will be at the Shenzhen Open Shenzhen defending round of 16 points; Muguruza will be at the Brisbane International defending semifinal points, and Wozniacki will be at Auckland for the ASB Classic where she was a quarterfinalist last year.
Five players—Halep, Muguruza, Serena Williams, Karolina Pliskova and Angelique Kerber—held the No.1 ranking in 2017.
Halep can guarantee her stay at No.1 with the title at Shenzhen. But if she falters in China, things could quickly get complicated.
Rankings scenarios for each specific player can be found below. Stay tuned for updated draws later in the week.