Inaugural Zhengzhou Open champion Karolina Pliskova is snapping at the heels of Porsche Race to Shenzhen leader Ashleigh Barty after capturing a Tour-leading fourth title of the season last week.
Having already collected victories in Brisbane, Rome and Eastbourne, as well as coming runner-up to Barty in Miami, the Czech has also achieved her own personal best trophy haul in any given season. Consequently, she finds herself just 226 points behind the Roland Garros champion as the battle to be the 2019 year-end World No.1 heats up even further. Wimbledon champion Simona Halep, pushed down one place into third spot by Pliskova this week, is over 400 points adrift of the leading pair.
Zhengzhou runner-up Petra Martic, who notched up her first final showing at Premier level, also gets a boost, climbing two places to No.15 as her career-best season continues, while Zhengzhou quarterfinalist Aryna Sabalenka moves back into the Top 20, rising three spots to land at No.19. Semifinalist Kristina Mladenovic is also heading in the right direction, receiving a 10-place boost to No.38.
Meanwhile, last week's International-level top performers are also making moves. Nanchang champion Rebecca Peterson leaps 18 places to land at No.50, and runner-up Elena Rybakina - who cracked the Top 50 in this week's WTA Rankings for the first time - leaps 11 spots to No.44 in the Race. Hiroshima champion Nao Hibino and runner-up Misaki Doi, who both turned around seasons that have been less than fruitful at WTA level to contest the first all-Japanese final in 22 years, are both rewarded by jumps into the Top 100, with Hibino winding up at No.86 and Doi soaring to No.79.
Here's how the Porsche Race to Shenzhen stacks up for the week of September 16:
