Last week's two Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles champions, Yanina Wickmayer and Samantha Stosur, had impressive jumps on the latest rankings.
Wickmayer made her debut in the Top 20, going from No.24 to No.20, after winning the second Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title of her career and of 2009 in Linz. The only other Belgians to ever crack the Top 20 are Sabine Appelmans, Kim Clijsters, Justine Henin and Dominique Monami.
Wickmayer's first title came in Estoril in May, and she continued to impress thereafter, as her results since then included a runner-up appearance in 's-Hertogenbosch and a semifinal showing at the US Open. Wickmayer, who turns 20 on Tuesday, reached the Top 100 for the first time in May 2008 and the Top 50 in August of this year.
Stosur matched her career-high, first achieved last month, by going from No.15 to No.13 after winning her first-ever Tour singles title in Osaka. Also making a move was Svetlana Kuznetsova, who went from No.4 to No.3 to start her 39th career week in the Top 3. Her previous 38 weeks there occurred non-consecutively between March 2007 and August 2008. The Russian, a two-time Grand Slam singles champion, first ascended to her career-high of No.2 in September 2007.
María José Martínez Sánchez made her career Top 10 doubles debut, going from No.11 to No.10. The Spaniard, whose partner is ninth-ranked Nuria Llagostera Vives, benefited from the retirement of the former No.6 Ai Sugiyama, who took her name off the rankings this week. Llagostera Vives and Martínez Sánchez, who have a Tour-leading six doubles titles this year, will be one of the four teams participating in the upcoming Sony Ericsson Championships - Doha 2009.
