Last week the WTA Tour made stops in Chicago for a WTA 500 level tournament, as well as Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, for a WTA 250. In addition to points from those events being added, the ranking points earned at 2019 Beijing also drop off this week, causing some movement among the Top 10, in particular.
Muguruza climbs to No.6
Former WTA World No.1 Garbiñe Muguruza captured her second title of 2021 in Chicago after winning the title in Dubai earlier in the year. As a result, Muguruza climbs three spots in this week’s rankings, moving from No.9 to No.6, her highest ranking since July 2018.
Top 10 shuffle
With 2019 Beijing points dropping off this week, Naomi Osaka falls from No.7 to No.12, ending her streak of 140 consecutive weeks in the Top 10, a streak that started on September 17, 2018. Osaka earned 1,000 points from winning the title at 2019 Beijing.
With Osaka dropping five spots, Belinda Bencic returns to the Top 10 this week following her results in Chicago, where she advanced to the quarterfinals.
Debut sparks career-high for Hontama
Mai Hontama earned her WTA main draw debut through qualifying in Chicago. The 22-year-old advanced to the quarterfinals with upsets of Caroline Garcia and Shelby Rogers before falling to the eventual champion Muguruza. Hontama’s ranking improved 39 spots, moving from No.200 to a career-high No.161.
Van Uytvanck boosted by Nur-Sultan win
Last week, Alison Van Uytvanck fell 34 places from No.55 to No.89 after her points from winning Tashkent 2019 dropped off. The Belgian has wasted no time in replacing them, returning to Central Asia to lift her fifth career singles title in Nur-Sultan. Van Uytvanck, who improved to 5-0 in championship matches, bounces back up 34 places exactly to return to No.55.
— Ons Jabeur (@Ons_Jabeur) October 4, 2021
Other notable movements
Ons Jabeur reached her fourth career final and third of the season in Chicago; the Tunisian sets a new career-high, moving up two spots to No.14.
Anett Kontaveit reached the second round of Chicago before withdrawing due to a left thigh injury, but the Estonian's recent hot streak sees her return to the Top 20 for the first time since August 2020. Kontaveit, who set her career-high of No.14 in March 2019, has won 13 of her last 14 matches, including titles in Cleveland and Ostrava, and moves up three places to No.20 this week.
Clara Tauson was not in action last week, but with other players' points falling off the 18-year-old Dane rises three places to make her Top 50 debut at No.49. This time last year, Tauson was ranked No.188; she has surged up the rankings thanks to winning her first two WTA titles in Lyon and Luxembourg, as well as the Chicago 125 event ahead of the US Open.
A semifinalist at Nur-Sultan, Rebecca Peterson moved up 10 spots from No.86 to No.76. It was the Swede's second last-four showing in the past two months, following a semifinal run at the Chicago 250 event ahead of the US Open.
Nur-Sultan also saw Jaqueline Cristian hit a new milestone. The 23-year-old Romanian had already reached two WTA quarterfinals this year, in St. Petersburg and Palermo, but made her semifinal debut in Kazakhstan via an upset of Clara Burel. Cristian is boosted 15 places to No.111, a new career-high.
After losing in the final round of qualifying at the US Open, Mihaela Buzarnescu has bounced back to reach back-to-back ITF W80 finals in Valencia, Spain, where she lost to Arantxa Rus, and Le Neubourg, France, where she captured the title. In the last two weeks, Buzarnescu’s ranking has improved 50 spots, as she has moved from No175 to No.125.
In the Le Neubourg final, Buzarnescu was victorious over another player excelling at ITF W80 level recently. Anna Bondar, who won the Wiesbaden title two weeks ago, extended her winning streak to nine in Le Neubourg, and climbs 11 places to a new career-high of No.135. The Hungarian, who reached her maiden WTA quarterfinal in Gdynia in July, began 2021 ranked No.275.
The biggest jump in the Top 200 this week belongs to Usue Maitane Arconada. The 22-year-old American won her fifth ITF title and second at W60 level in Berkeley, California, and soars 49 places up to No.189.
Anastasia Gasanova started this year ranked No.292, but the 22-year-old Russian has delivered several noteworthy Tour-level performances over 2021: an upset of Karolina Pliskova to reach the Abu Dhabi third round, a quarterfinal run on home soil in St. Petersburg, and a second WTA quarterfinal showing last week in Nur-Sultan. Gasanova rises 14 places to a new career-high of No.146.
