Rankings Watch: Noskova, Muchova reach new career highs

Linda Noskova's first Grand Slam title added another milestone to Czechia's rich Wimbledon history. In the first major final between two Czech players, the 21-year-old defeated compatriot Karolina Muchova 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 to claim the biggest title of her career.

Noskova became the fifth different Czech woman to win the Wimbledon singles title -- and the third in the past four years -- joining Jana Novotna (1998), Petra Kvitova (2011, 2014), Marketa Vondrousova (2023) and Barbora Krejcikova (2024). She also became the third player born in 2004 or later to win a major, following Coco Gauff and Roland Garros champion Mirra Andreeva.

Wimbledon is Noskova's third tour-level title. She won her second just two weeks earlier in Berlin, a victory that propelled her into the Top 10 for the first time. She also became the first player to win both a grass-court lead-in event and Wimbledon in the same season since Maria Sharapova swept Birmingham and Wimbledon in 2004.

Noskova dropped out of the Top 10 after one week when Muchova's title in Bad Homburg moved her back ahead in the rankings. This week, Noskova returns at a career-high No. 7 in the latest PIF WTA Rankings, climbing five places from No. 12.

Muchova defeated three Grand Slam champions -- Krejcikova, Naomi Osaka and Coco Gauff -- to reach her second major final while compiling a career-best 10-match winning streak. Although she fell short in the final, the run underscored the strides the 29-year-old has made in 2026, a season that also included her first WTA 1000 title in Doha in February.

Muchova, whose previous career high was No. 8 in September 2023, climbed three places from No. 9 to a career-high No. 6 this week. After trading places in the Top 10 during the two weeks before Wimbledon, Noskova and Muchova are the first two Czech players to be ranked inside the Top 10 simultaneously since Muchova and Marketa Vondrousova in February 2024.

Pegula, Gauff shake up Top 5; Krueger soars back into Top 100

After both Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff lost in the first round at Wimbledon a year ago, the two Americans took advantage of the opportunity to gain rankings points this fortnight.

Pegula reached the quarterfinals for the second time before falling to Gauff in an all-American matchup. She climbs one place to match her career-high ranking of No. 3, a position she last held exactly one year ago.

Gauff completed her career set of Grand Slam semifinal appearances by reaching the last four at Wimbledon for the first time. She fell to Muchova in a third-set tiebreak after holding match point -- the first time she has lost after holding match point. After dropping out of the Top 5 following Roland Garros, the 22-year-old Gauff climbs three places from No. 7 to No. 4.

Another American, Ashlyn Krueger, enjoyed a career-best grass-court season. She put together an 11-match winning streak that included the Ilkley WTA 125 title, three qualifying wins at Wimbledon and her first trip to the fourth round of a major. The former No. 29 returns to the Top 100 with a 36-place jump from No. 102 to No. 66.

Sonmez becomes first Turkish player in Top 50; milestones for Ruzic, Quevedo

Two players make their Top 50 debuts this week -- and for one, it marks a significant national milestone. Zeynep Sonmez, who reached the second round at Wimbledon, became the first Turkish woman to crack the Top 50 after climbing three places from No. 51 to No. 48.

Croatia's Antonia Ruzic also reached the second round at Wimbledon and climbs 11 places to No. 50. The 23-year-old is the second Croatian to crack the Top 50 this year, following Rabat champion Petra Marcinko, who also reached a career high this week at No. 45 after climbing two spots.

This time last year, Kaitlin Quevedo was ranked No. 229. The Spaniard has reached one milestone after another in 2026 -- qualifying for her first main draw in Auckland and reaching the second round, earning her first WTA 1000 main-draw win over Venus Williams on home soil in Madrid, then qualifying for her first Grand Slam main draw and advancing to the second round at Roland Garros.

The 20-year-old Quevedo can now add a Top 100 debut to the list. After reaching the second round of Wimbledon qualifying and the Bastad WTA 125 semifinals last week, Quevedo climbs seven places to No. 100.

New career highs for Kostyuk, Cirstea, Eala, Bartunkova, Snigur, Timofeeva

Several players in the Top 100 move to new career highs this week following career-best Wimbledons:

• One month after reaching her first Grand Slam semifinal at Roland Garros, Marta Kostyuk repeated the feat at Wimbledon. The Ukrainian, whose 2026 record is now 28-6, is up one place to No. 11
• Sorana Cirstea made the Wimbledon third round for a sixth time, where she held match point over eventual champion Noskova. The 36-year-old climbs one spot to No. 17
• Alexandra Eala dethroned defending champion Iga Swiatek in the third round, becoming the first Filipina to reach the fourth round of a major. She moves up four places to No. 28
• On her Wimbledon debut, 20-year-old Nikola Bartunkova showed that the talent pipeline is still strong in the next generation of Czech players by making the third round; she climbs five spots to No. 43
• Daria Snigur stunned Ukrainian compatriot Elina Svitolina in the first round -- improving to 3-1 in her career against Top 10 opponents -- and went on to the third round of a major for the first time. The 24-year-old vaults 21 places to No. 56
• Uzbekistan's Maria Timofeeva continued her resurgence by qualifying and reaching the second round of Wimbledon and moves up 16 places to No. 79

Liu, Sawangkaew, Grant, Gasanova, Bolkvadze make moves following breakthroughs

Outside the Top 100, career-best Wimbledon runs have also boosted several players.

• Former No. 52 Claire Liu had a 0-7 record in Grand Slam second rounds before Wimbledon -- but the American qualifier broke through to the third round in her 21st major main draw. She jumps 35 places to No. 111
• In June 2025, Mananchaya Sawangkaew broke the Top 100 -- then was sidelined for six months with a back injury, falling to No. 248 by November. Able to play the grass-court swing for the first time, the Thai 24-year-old excelled, qualifying for Wimbledon and reaching the third round of a major for the first time. Sawangkaew backed that up by reaching last week's Newport WTA 125 semifinals, and soars 51 places to No. 113
• Playing her first senior Grand Slam event, 2024 girls' doubles champion Tyra Caterina Grant qualified and reached the Wimbledon second round. The 18-year-old Italian leaps 31 places to No. 141
• Anastasia Gasanova qualified for her second Grand Slam main draw (following Roland Garros 2022) and reached the second round with her first tour-level win since Seoul 2022. The 27-year-old climbs 51 places to No. 174
• Mariam Bolkvadze also qualified for her second Grand Slam main draw after an even longer gap -- since the 2019 US Open -- and became the second woman representing Georgia to reach the Wimbledon second round. Ranked No. 545 after struggling with hand and hamstring injuries, Bolkvadze entered Wimbledon via her special ranking of No. 202. In this week's official rankings, the 28-year-old vaults 155 places to No. 390

Maria, Sherif, Badosa, Vandromme boosted by WTA 125 success

Three WTA 125 events took place during the second week of Wimbledon -- on grass in Newport, and on clay in Contrexéville and Bastad.

• Grass-court expert Tatjana Maria took the Newport title (as well as reaching the Wimbledon second round), improving from her 2025 runner-up finish at the tournament, and climbs 20 places from No. 96 to No. 76. The 38-year-old's season record ahead of the grass-court swing was just 8-17; since moving to her favorite surface, she's gone 16-5. Maria avenged a first-round loss at Wimbledon 2025 to defeat Katie Volynets 6-2, 6-4 in the final; Volynets moves up eight spots to No. 93.
• Mayar Sherif collected her 10th career WTA 125 title, and second of the past month -- in addition to one WTA 250 title -- in Contrexéville, where she was previously runner-up in 2024. The Egyptian pulled off a remarkable comeback in the final from 6-3, 5-0 down against Belgium's Jeline Vandromme, saving one championship point to triumph 3-6, 7-6(0), 7-5 in 3 hours exactly. Sherif climbs 12 places to No. 96, returning to the Top 100 for the first time since last November. Reigning US Open junior champion Vandromme, 18, vaults 32 places to a new career high of No. 129 after making her first WTA 125 final.
• Former No. 2 Paula Badosa came through the Bastad draw without dropping a set to claim her first title at any level since Washington 2024. The Spaniard rises 26 places to No. 115, while runner-up Simona Waltert hits a new career high with a nine-spot jump to No. 81.

Other notable rankings movements

Naomi Osaka, +1 to No. 13: Osaka reached her first Wimbledon quarterfinal after stunning Aryna Sabalenka in the fourth round for her third career win over a reigning World No. 1. The 28-year-old became the third Japanese woman to make the last eight at Wimbledon in the Open Era, and first since Ai Sugiyama in 2004.

Jasmine Paolini, +2 to No. 15: The Italian won four consecutive matches for the first time since last September (the Billie Jean King Cup Finals followed by the Beijing quarterfinals) to reach her third Grand Slam quarterfinal at Wimbledon.

Marie Bouzkova, +2 to No. 21: Bouzkova, the 2022 Wimbledon quarterfinalist, made the fourth round at SW19 for a second time, and moves up to a new career high.

Barbora Krejcikova, +6 to No. 32: The 2024 champion returned to the fourth round of Wimbledon, where she was edged out by Muchova in one of the best matches of the tournament.

McCartney Kessler, +11 to No. 46: Kessler made the Wimbledon second round, where she held two set points against Sabalenka before falling 6-1, 7-6(9).

Viktorija Golubic, +15 to No. 47: After reaching the Wimbledon second round, Golubic returns to the Top 50 for the first time since May 2022.

Maya Joint, +10 to No. 77: The 20-year-old Australian snapped an 11-match tour-level losing streak to defeat Serena Williams in the Wimbledon first round.

Lucrezia Stefanini, +18 to No. 145: Former No. 99 Stefanini made the second round of Wimbledon qualifying, then won her first ITF W100 title in Cary and made the Newport WTA 125 quarterfinals.

Teodora Kostovic, +25 to No. 159: Serbia's Kostovic, 19, qualified for her first Grand Slam main draw at Wimbledon (losing to Sabalenka in the first round), then made the Aschaffenburg ITF W100 semifinals.

Ekaterine Gorgodze, +41 to No. 176: At the age of 34 years old, Georgia's Gorgodze claimed the biggest title of her career to date at the Aschaffenburg ITF W100 last week.

Eva Vedder, +19 to No. 179: The 26-year-old Dutchwoman is on a 10-match winning streak, and up to a new career high, after winning back-to-back ITF titles at the Palma del Rio W50 and The Hague W75. Vedder has also won 14 of her past 15 matches, including a run to the Ceska Lipa W75 final last month.

Anastasiia Sobolieva, +58 to No. 191: The 22-year-old Ukrainian put together a 14-match winning streak over the past three weeks, encompassing two ITF W50 titles in Gdansk and Vaihingen before reaching the Aschaffenburg ITF W100 final (where she was forced to retire against Gorgodze). Sobolieva has won 17 of her past 19 matches, having also reached the Brescia WTA 125 semifinals last month, and rises to a new career high.

Sara Sorribes Tormo, +41 to No. 212: Former No. 32 Sorribes Tormo won her first Grand Slam main-draw match since the 2024 US Open at Wimbledon, where she fell to Jessica Pegula in the second round after holding four set points in the first set.

Shi Han, +57 to No. 247: The Chinese 21-year-old, who set her career high of No. 200 in March 2025, won the Elvas ITF W50 title two weeks ago, then made last week's Corroios-Seixal W50 semifinals.

Julieta Pareja, +60 to No. 317: Last year's Wimbledon junior finalist, 17-year-old Pareja captured her second ITF W50 title of the season last week in Columbus.

Savannah Broadus, +141 to No. 327: Broadus, the 2019 Wimbledon girls' doubles champion and a Pepperdine University alumna, reached her first ITF W100 final as a qualifier in Cary two weeks ago. The 23-year-old American is up to a new career high.

Serena Williams, UNR to No. 1,219: Former World No. 1 Williams returns to the rankings for the first time since September 2022 after returning to singles action for the first time since the US Open that year. Williams fell in the Wimbledon first round to Maya Joint.