Rankings Watch: Jovic, Eala, Tjen, Ruzic up to new career highs

The Middle East swing on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz wrapped last week with the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, the second WTA 1000 event of the 2026 season.

A final between two 31-year-olds -- the second-oldest combined age in a WTA 1000 or Tier I final this century -- ended with Jessica Pegula defeating Elina Svitolina for her fourth WTA 1000 title. Pegula remains at No. 5 in this week’s PIF WTA Rankings, with Svitolina at No. 9.

The most significant moves this week are by four fast-rising up-and-comers who were all ranked outside the Top 100 this time last year, and who all delivered strong performances on their Dubai debuts to reach new career highs.

• In her first tournament since reaching the Australian Open quarterfinals, 18-year-old Iva Jovic made the Dubai third round. The youngest player in the Top 100, Jovic climbs two spots from No. 20 to No. 18
• Buoyed once again by the fervent support of the Filipino diaspora, Alexandra Eala claimed a third career Top 10 win (over Jasmine Paolini) en route to her second WTA 1000 quarterfinal. The 20-year-old jumps 16 places from No. 47 to No. 31
• Competing as a wild card, Indonesia's Janice Tjen notched her fourth career Top 30 win (over Leylah Fernandez) en route to the last 16 of a WTA 1000 for the first time. The 23-year-old enters the Top 40 for the first time, rising 10 places from No. 46 to No. 36
• Croatia's Antonia Ruzic had the wildest week of all. After losing from six match points up in her first qualifying round to Rebecca Sramkova, the 23-year-old got into the main draw as the sixth lucky loser -- and went all the way to her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal, defeating two Grand Slam champions (Emma Raducanu and, via retirement, Elena Rybakina) along the way. Ruzic soars 16 places from No. 67 to No. 51.

Kraus makes Top 100 debut

Sinja Kraus has become the first player to crack the Top 100 for the first time in 2026, climbing three places from No. 102 to No. 99 after reaching the Oeiras WTA 125 quarterfinals. The 23-year-old won her first WTA 125 title last November in Cali, as well as four further trophies at ITF W75 and W50 level across 2025, and reached the second round of Auckland in January as a qualifier.

Kraus joins fellow Austrians Anastasia Potapova and Julia Grabher in the Top 100. It's the first time three Austrians have been ranked inside the Top 100 since Sybille Bammer, Tamira Paszek and Patricia Mayr-Achleitner all featured in it in February 2011.

WTA 125 champions Snigur, Salkova, Charaeva boosted

Three WTA 125 tournaments, all on indoor hard courts, took place last week and each of them was won by a first-time champion at this level.

• Ukraine's Daria Snigur delivered a dominant performance to win Oeiras 2 without the loss of a set, conceding just 17 games over five matches. The 23-year-old was the 2019 Wimbledon junior champion and has been in top form in 2026 so far -- she has compiled a 15-3 record this year, which also includes her first WTA semifinal in Cluj-Napoca and another WTA 125 semifinal showing in Canberra. Snigur jumps 18 places to No. 115 -- 10 spots beneath the career high of No. 105 that she set in November 2022
• Czechia's Dominika Salkova, 21, lifted the trophy at Les Sables d'Olonne. She rises 22 places to No. 130 -- just one place beneath the career high of No. 129 that she set in July 2024
• In the Midland first round, Alina Charaeva snapped an eight-match winning streak dating back to her WTA main-draw debut in Tokyo last October -- then went all the way to the title, going one better than her first WTA 125 final in Huzhou last September. The 23-year-old, who was the 2020 Roland Garros junior runner-up, climbs 25 places to a new career high of No. 138.

The three WTA 125 runners-up have also been boosted this week:

• Oeiras 2 finalist Viktorija Golubic is up 10 spots to No. 75;
• China's Guo Hanyu reached her first WTA 125 final in Midland, and jumps 30 spots to a new career high of No. 156. The 27-year-old's route to the final included a 6-2, 2-6, 7-6(8) win from match point down in the quarterfinals against Elvina Kalieva, and a 3-hour, 4-minute 7-6(4), 6-7(2), 7-5 marathon semifinal victory over Mary Stoiana;
• Spain's Andrea Lazaro Garcia, 31, reached her first WTA 125 final in Les Sables d'Olonne, and climbs 38 places to a new career high of No. 168.

Other notable rankings movements

Wang Xinyu, +3 to No. 30: Wang was inactive last week, but makes her Top 30 debut this week nonetheless. Wang first reached her previous career high of No. 32 in October 2023, then again in June 2025.

Jaqueline Cristian, +6 to No. 33: Cristian inches up to a new career high after making the Dubai third round. The Romanian also reached the Adelaide quarterfinals in January, and was runner-up in Rabat last May.

Anastasia Zakharova, +16 to No. 88: Zakharova returns to the Top 100 after reaching the Dubai second round as a lucky loser.

Hanne Vandewinkel, +11 to No. 113: Vandewinkel extended her winning streak to 10 straight matches in India, backing up her Pune ITF W75 title two weeks ago with the Bengaluru ITF W100 title last week. The 21-year-old Belgian is up to a new career high.

Alina Korneeva, +6 to No. 125: Former junior No. 1 Korneeva compiled her second eight-match winning streak of the year by reaching the Les Sables d'Olonne WTA 125 semifinals. The 18-year-old hits a new career high, exceeding the peak of No. 128 that she set in February 2024 for the first time.

Noma Noha Akugue, +46 to No. 210: Germany's Noha Akugue, the 2023 Hamburg runner-up, claimed her second career ITF W75 title in Altenkirchen last week.

Celine Naef, +14 to No. 217: Former No. 121 Naef extended her winning streak to 10 matches in a row by capturing her second straight ITF W50 title -- and third of 2026 so far -- in Macon last week.

Julia Avdeeva, +38 to No. 227: Avdeeva, 23, has been either the champion or the runner-up at all three tournaments she has contested in 2026 so far (all at ITF W75 level). Last week, she was the finalist in Altenkirchen.

Vaishnavi Adkar, +224 to No. 466: Indian wild card Adkar thrilled her home crowd at last week's Bengaluru ITF W100 with a surprise run to her first final above W15 level. The 21-year-old, who made her WTA main-draw debut as a lucky loser in Chennai last October, notched her first two Top 200 wins over Taylah Preston and Lanlana Tararudee, and enters the Top 500 for the first time.

Julia Stusek, +120 to No. 550: The 17-year-old German, currently the junior No. 7, reached the Altenkirchen ITF W75 semifinals as a qualifier.