Tennis

Shifts in the WTA rankings: Pliskova back in the top 10 and British Wimbledon comet

The third Grand Slam tournament of the season is over and, just like after the French Open, we bring you an overview of the changes in the WTA rankings. We’ll be looking at the top 100 players in the world, but we’ll also take a look at a young British player

Published

3 years ago

12. 7. 2021

Petr Hais

The third Grand Slam tournament of the season is over and, just like after the French Open, we bring you an overview of the changes in the WTA rankings. We’ll focus mainly on the players in the top 100, but we’ll also take a look at a young British player who has captivated the tennis public.

Moving forward

Several tennis players have moved forward in the top ten. Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Świąteková recorded their career best rankings in the new edition of the rankings. The Belarusian is ranked third after her run to the semi-finals, where she fell to Karolina Pliskova, while the Pole is ranked world No. 8 after finishing in the fourth round.

Just ahead of Świąteková is Karolina Pliskova, who is currently the only Czech in the world top ten. Barbora Krejcikova, who is currently the 13th player in the world and will be seeded number two for the tournament in Prague’s Sparta, has also moved forward.

For the first time, the 28-year-old Swiss Viktorija Golubic broke into the world top 50 after she fell short to Karolina Pliskova in the quarter-finals. The young Colombian Maria Camila Osorio Serrano and Aljaksandra Sasnovic, for example, moved forward significantly. Australian Alja Tomljanovic jumped 24 places.

Two players, Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina and Germany’s Andrea Petkovic, had a rocket take-off. Kalinina moved into the Top 100 for the first time (95th), while Petkovic moved up 33 spots to 97th in the world by reaching the final of the tournament in Hamburg.

As the very last one we have to mention the 18-year-old Wimbledon wild card Emma Raducanu. The young British player reached the fourth round and moved up 159 places. If she can at least repeat her performance at the All England Club, Great Britain could have a future star in her.

Falling down

In the top ten, defending All England Club champion Simona Halep experienced a big drop. The Romanian didn’t enter the tournament at all due to injury. The experienced Serena Williams dropped out of the top 10, losing 1290 points due to her withdrawal in the first round. She dropped from 8th to 16th position.

Within the top 100, only China’s Zhang Shuai experienced a more dramatic drop. She dropped 23 places and is now up to 60th in Monday’s edition. Polona Herzog (down 11 places to 88th) and Misaki Doi (down 10 places to 93rd) dropped more than 10 places.

Czech women

The Czech Republic is represented in the world 100 by 9 women. They are thus the third most numerous nation after the Americans and Russians. The new Czech number one is Karolina Pliskova, who also has Petra Kvitova (12th) and Barbora Krejcikova (13th) in the world top 20.

Up to number 50 we can find Karolína Muchová (24th) and Markéta Vondroušová (39th). Vondroušová has to mobilize quickly because the Olympic tournament is coming up, so the 22-year-old Czech should definitely not underestimate her preparation. The Czech public has been quite sceptical about her nomination at the expense of Muchova.

Marie Bouzkova and Kateřina Siniaková are ranked 57th and 63rd, followed by Tereza Martincová, who is currently 78th in the world and continues to confirm her growing form. The last Czech in the Top 100 is Kristýna Plíšková, who is currently 99th in the world.

The next big tournament awaits the tennis players in Tokyo at the Olympics. And the Czech hopes for the Olympics will certainly not be small.

Rankings as of 12.7.2021