Eight players fighting for WTA No.1 at US Open

It sounds vaguely nonsensical when you think about it, but eight different women could be world No.1 by the end of the US Open. Yes, the battle for the top spot has become so tight that the list of potential world No.1s reaches as low as the current No.9 Venus Williams.

Even more bizarrely, alongside Agnieszka Radwanska the only player in the Top 10 who cannot become No.1 after the tournament is the woman who claimed the top spot at there in 2016: Angelique Kerber. The German can only drop points at Flushing Meadows, meaning that she cannot ascend to the top of the game.

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The gap between Karolina Pliskova (defending 1300 points) and Simona Halep (defending 430 points) is currently just five points – the smallest margin between the top two players since 2009.

For Plsikova to retain her No.1 she needs to not only reach the finals, but see Simona Halep and Garbine Muguruza go out early.

Looking at the maths, Halep is the undoubted favourite to take the top spot in two weeks time, but has stumbled on three occasions so far this season when the opportunity has presented itself (French Open, Wimbledon and Cincinnati).

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Going on form alone, Garbine Muguruza is also in with a shout as she is defending just 70 points from 2016 – but has never gone beyond the second round at Flushing Meadows. Meanwhile, Elina Svitolina also has a viable chance to nab it should she go deep and others fall away.

Then comes the nonsensical.

Caroline Wozniacki, Johanna Konta, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Venus Williams are also all in with a shot at the No.1 spot. Admittedly, pretty much everyone else in the Top 10 would need to lose in the first round for it to happen, but stranger things have happened on the WTA.