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INDIAN WELLS, Calif. – The women’s singles final at the BNP Paribas Open Sunday was a battle for the No. 2 spot in the rankings.
And Iga Swiatek was the winner – not only of the match, but of a new career-high ranking.
Runner-up Maria Sakkari still moves up to a career best No. 3.
And, let’s face it: even if No. 1 Ashleigh Barty does care about that top ranking, she doesn’t have to play much – she’s more than 2200 points ahead of Swiatek – even though she won’t defend her 2021 Miami Open points, she’ll still have a nice lead.
(For the complete WTA Tuur rankings picture, click here).
ON THE UPSWING
Iga Swiatek (POL): No. 4 ========> No. 2 (A career high for the Indian Wells champion. And she’s playing like it, too. She’ll be the No. 2 seed at the Miami Open with the withdrawals of Barty and Krejcikova).
Maria Sakkari (GRE): No. 6 ========> No. 3 (A career high for Sakkari, who fell short in the Indian Wells final but is still having a fine season so far).
Simona Halep (ROU): No. 26 ========> No. 19 (A disappointment n the semfinals for the Romanian. But her effort puts her back into the top 20).
Madison Keys (USA): No. 29 ========> No. 26 (Still a long way from where she should be. But at least the American is showing signs of life).
Viktorija Golubic (SUI): No. 51 ========> No. 42 (Golubic squeezed into a seeded spot at Indian Wells, because she was ranked No. 35 a couple of weeks ago before dropping a bunch of points after the Lyon tournament …. But she made good on it. And now she’s not far from the top 40 again).
Petra Martic (CRO): No. 79 ========> No. 58 (A great effort in the desert for Martic, who among others defeated the highly-publicized Emma Raducanu. But it came too late for this week, and she’s the No. 1 seed in the qualifying in Miami).
Marie Bouzkova (CZE): No. 97 ========> No. 86 (It’s been a pretty good American swing for Bouzkova).
Harriet Dart (GBR): No. 122 ========> No. 99 (A debut in the top 100 for Dart, who is 25. She not only qualified at Indian Wells, she upset Elina Svitolina and Kaia Kanepi on her way to the fourth round).
Zhu Lin (CHN): No. 125 ========> No. 109 (A nice jump for Zhu, who beat Rebecca Marino in the ITF $60K in Mexico two weeks ago).
Rebecca Marino (CAN): No. 123 ========> No. 116 (Another jump for the Canadian, who began the season ranked No. 145. She’s 19-5 this season, at the various levels. A few more wins and she can put away the qualifying at the two upcoming Grand Slams).
Asia Muhammad (USA): No. 181 ========> No. 159 (Muhammad made a trip to Australia to play some ITFs and has been on a great winning streak in singles and doubles. She won three straight 25Ks in Canberra and Bendigo. So definitely worth sticking around Down Under after losing in the AO qualies. She also tied her career high in doubles at No. 31, after reaching the Indian Wells final with Ena Shibahara. She is 17-2 in doubles on the year at the various levels, and 16-1 in singles).
Olivia Gadecki (AUS): No. 250 ========> No. 202 (The talented 19-year-old had to bypass the entire Australian season because she declined to get vaccinated. That’s a pretty big move for a 19-year-old – especially one who would have been gifted a few wild cards. She began her year only in February, and reached two ITFs finals – losing both to Muhammad. That ranking is a career high).
ON THE DOWNSWING
Barbora Krejcikova (CZE): No. 2 ========> No. 4 (Krejcikova withdrew from both Indian Wells and Miami. But she only had second-round points to defend in Miami. So if she’s not 100%, it’s probably a good move).
Aryna Sabalenka: No. 3 ========> No. 5 (Sabalenka really isn’t going places this season, and fell early in the desert. But she’s the No. 1 seed in Miami).
Anett Kontaveit (EST): No. 5 ========> No. 7
The Canadians
Bianca Andreescu is about to dump more than half her ranking points, as she is not defending her final at last year’s Miami Open.
That will drop her from No. 44 to about No. 122 in the rankings, although she’ll be able to use a protected ranking with she returns.
Eugenie Bouchard, who hasn’t played for more than a year and had shoulder surgery in June, is down here.
The Road to …
Swiatek takes over the lead in the race to … (we don’t know yet) while Sakkari is No. 3 with a bullet.
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