Belarus’s Aryna Sabalenka has moved up to number two in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) world rankings.

This week’s update to the WTA rankings saw Sabalenka achieve a career-high. She debuted at world number two, pushing Japan’s Naomi Osaka down to world number three.

Ashleigh Barty remained at the top spot after winning the Cincinnati Masters, extending her reign to 83 consecutive weeks as world number one. It is also her 90th week at the top of the rankings overall, the ninth best record in history.

The Wimbledon winner must protect her number one ranking for another eight weeks to equal Lindsay Davenport’s 98 weeks at the top of the standings.

How did Aryna Sabalenka become world number two?

Sabalenka has enjoyed a breakthrough year so far. She won her first clay court title in May, overcoming Ashleigh Barty in the final of the Madrid Open. She had previously lost to the Australian in the final of the Stuttgart Open and the quarter-finals of the Miami Open.

The 23-year-old also proved herself on tennis’s biggest stage – a Grand Slam. She progressed to the semi-final of Wimbledon, but lost to Karolína Plíšková of the Czech Republic.

Following a period as world number three, Sabalenka moved up the rankings after reaching the round of 32 at the Cincinnati Masters. Although Osaka did better than Sabalenka at the tournament, reaching the third round, she was defending far more points after reaching the final last year.

Belarus's Aryna Sabalenka has overtaken Japan's Naomi Osaka to rise to world number two in the WTA rankings

What does the change in rankings mean for the US Open?

The change at the top of the WTA rankings has come just before the seedings for the US Open, which gets underway at Flushing Meadows on August 31st.

Osaka’s new position in the world rankings increases her chances of falling on the same side of the draw as Barty, which would mean only one of the two could reach the final of the Grand Slam.

This would reduce Barty’s chances of earning her first US Open title – Osaka excels at the tournament and has already won the tournament twice.

Naomi Osaka has won the US Open twice

What else happened in the world rankings?

Teenagers Clara Tauson and Emma Raducanu both achieved career-high rankings after impressing at the WTA 125 event in Chicago last week. Denmark’s Tauson defeated Raducanu to move from number 101 to 77, while the Briton rose from number 174 to 150.

Cincinnati Masters finalist Jil Teichmann climbed from world number 76 to 44, having defeated Osaka, Belinda Bencic and Plíšková on her way to her clash with Barty.

Czech Barbora Krejčíková rose to world number nine, pushing Spain's Garbiñe Muguruza down to number 10. Angelique Kerber of Germany returned to the top 20 for the first time since February, climbing from number 22 to 17.

After reaching the quarter-finals in Cincinnati, Spain's Paula Badosa moved up three spots from number 29 to a career-best number 26.

Jil Teichmann reached the final of the Cincinnati Masters