Rankings Watch: Mertens regains doubles No.1, Tauson makes leap

In this week’s WTA Rankings, there is a shuffle atop the doubles standings as well as a shakeup in the singles Top 5.

It should be worth noting, points earned from 2020 Rome, 2019 Osaka, 2019 Guangzhou and 2019 Seoul dropped off.

Mertens returns to doubles World No.1

Belgium’s Elise Mertens

View Profile returns to the top of the WTA Doubles Rankings for the third time, replacing Hsieh Su-Wei.  

Hsieh won 2020 Rome, which was staged in the fall of 2020, and lost in the opening round of Rome earlier this year. By rule, she was allowed to count only the “best of” her Rome results, and until Monday has been counting 900 points for the 2020 Rome title. In addition, Hsieh was a finalist at 2019 Osaka, where she earned 305 points.  Those points for Hsieh are replaced by her next best results – Birmingham (110 points) and Parma (110 points). As a result, Hsieh drops to No.4 in the doubles rankings.

Paolini reaches career high

By winning the title in Portoroz, Jasmine Paolini

View Profile climbs 23 spots, moving from No.87 to a career-best No.64. The 25-year-old Italian defeated three Top 50 opponents in consecutive matches – No.40 Sorana Cirstea

View Profile in the quarterfinals, then No.44 Yulia Putintseva

View Profile and finally No.38 Alison Riske in the final – to capture her first career title.

Danish teen wins second title

Danish teenager Clara Tauson

View Profile captured her second career singles title in Luxembourg to become the youngest player to win the tournament since 2001. Additionally, Tauson becomes the first 18-year-old to win two tour-level titles in a season since 2015, when Belinda Bencic

View Profile captured two titles.                     

By winning Luxembourg, Tauson, who started the year ranked No.151, collected 280 ranking points and moved up 18 spots, climbing from No.70 to a career-high No.52.

Other notable rankings movements

-- Barbora Krejcikova

View Profile makes her Top 5 debut this week, and Iga Swiatek

View Profile moves to a career-high No.6. Naomi Osaka

View Profile drops 470 points this week (from her title at 2019 Osaka).

--American Alison Riske reached her first singles final since 2019 last week in Portoroz and improved her ranking six spots, from No.38 to No.32.

--Kaja Juvan, a semifinalist in Portoroz, climbed six spots to return to the Top 100. She jumps from No.103 to No.97.

--One week after reaching a WTA 125 series event final in Karlsruhe, Germany, Martina Trevisan

View Profile won an ITF singles title in Valencia to pave the way for a 13-spot improvement, moving from No.79 to No.66.

--Zheng Saisai captured an ITF circuit title at Caldas Da Rainha, Portugal, a $60k+ level event, and climbed 11 spots in this week’s rankings, jumping from No.94 to No.83.