In the second week of this season, players finalized their preparations for the Australian Open by participating in two tournaments: a WTA 500 event in Adelaide and a WTA 250 event in Hobart.
Ostapenko rolls to Adelaide International title; secures Top 10 return
Jelena Ostapenko triumphed at the former, continuing a strong start to the year. The week before, she reached the Brisbane quarterfinals. As a result, Ostapenko climbs two places from No.12 to No.10, marking her return to the Top 10 after a five-year absence.
The Latvian, who reached her career-high of No.5 in March 2018, was last ranked inside the Top 10 in September of 2018. She's come close to re-entering it in recent years -- in April 2022, Ostapenko was at No.11 and in January 2023 at No.12 -- but it's taken a new level of consistency at all levels to find her way back. As well as the Adelaide title, Ostapenko is also the reigning Birmingham champion and has two Grand Slam quarterfinals on her record, at the Australian and US Opens last year.
Navarro cracks Top 30 with first title
Exactly one year ago, Emma Navarro was ranked No.148 and opted out of traveling to Australia in order to play the U.S. ITF circuit. This week, the 22-year-old American makes her Top 30 debut, rising five places from No.31 to No.26 after winning Hobart for her first Hologic WTA Tour title.
Navarro outlasts Mertens in Hobart to win first WTA title
Navarro's compiled a 64-24 record in 2023, including five ITF titles and a first WTA 125 final in Bastad last July. Two tour-level semifinals, on grass in Bad Homburg and on hard courts in San Diego, were evidence of Navarro's growing proficiency -- particularly a first win against a Top 10 player, Maria Sakkari, at the latter tournament. In the Hobart final, Navarro knocked off experienced two-time champion Elise Mertens in a tight three-setter.
Strong runs lead to new career highs
Positive showings last week enabled three more players to hit new career highs. Cristina Bucsa, who reached the second round of Adelaide as a lucky loser, moves up five places from No.61 to No.56. Hobart semifinalist Yuan Yue rises 12 places from No.73 to No.61, and Hobart quarterfinalist Viktoriya Tomova climbs seven places from No.77 to No.70.
More notable rankings movements
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (+13 from No.59 to No.46): Ranked No.364 this time last year, Pavlyuchenkova received a nomination for Comeback Player of the Year in December's WTA Awards after a season highlighted by a Roland Garros quarterfinal run. The 32-year-old continued to head in the right direction by reaching the Adelaide quarterfinals as a qualifier and returns to the Top 50 for the first time since May 2022.
Laura Siegemund (+11 from No.89 to No.78): Fresh off spearheading Germany's United Cup title run as a lynchpin of the doubles rubbers, the former No.27 Siegemund turned her attention to singles in Adelaide. She upset Liudmila Samsonova in the first round -- her first completed Top 20 win since defeating Petra Martic at Roland Garros 2020 -- and went all the way to the quarterfinals before being forced to withdraw. Siegemund is undefeated in both singles and doubles so far in 2024.
Daria Saville (+43, No.195 to No.152): An ACL injury caused former No.20 Saville fell as low as No.322 last August, but the Australian player is heading in the right direction again after making the Hobart semifinals. Saville's run included wins against Sofia Kenin and Zhu Lin.
Antonia Ruzic (+14, No.211 to No.197): Ruzic, 20, started the year with a nine-match winning streak across two ITF W50 events in Nonthaburi, Thailand. The Croatian won the first and was runner-up in the second and returns to the Top 200 for the first time since October 2022.
Sara Saito (+24, No.322 to No.298): Junior No.5 Saito, 17, has also had a good fortnight in Nonthaburi. The Japanese teenager reached one final and one semifinal, losing to Ruzic in each and rises to a new career high. Saito is the third highest ranked player born in 2006, behind Czechs Sara Bejlek and Nikola Bartunkova.
What's on the line Down Under
With the Australian Open underway, here's a look at how many points the Top 10 players in the world will be defending:
- Iga Swiatek: 240
- Aryna Sabalenka: 2000
- Elena Rybakina: 1400
- Coco Gauff: 240
- Jessica Pegula: 430
- Ons Jabeur: 70
- Marketa Vondrousova: 130
- Maria Sakkari: 130
- Karolina Muchova: 70
- Jelena Ostapenko: 485
