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ROME – As with the women, there’s a big catchup to do in this week’s updated rankings – the first update in two weeks before of the length of the Madrid Open.

So two weeks of Challengers, the big Masters 1000 and all the other smaller events around the globe.

Notable is the fact that Carlos Alcaraz, by winning Barcelona, is just five points behind Novak Djokovic for the No. 1 spot.

Djokovic won Rome last year, and defends 1,000 points. Alcaraz didn’t play. So it appears the young Spaniard will be the top seed going into Roland Garros – barring any unforeseens.

WTA Rankings Report – As of May 8, 2023

(For the complete, updated ATP Tour rankings, click here).

ON THE UPSWING

Borna Coric (CRO): No. 20 ==========> No. 16 (Getting closer to his career high of No. 12 after his effort to get to the Madrid semifinals, as the No. 17 seed).

Jan-Lennard Struff (GER): No. 65 ==========> No. 28 (At 33, Struff reaches a career high – one spot higher than his previous best just before the 2020 US Open, as he goes from lucky loser to Madrid finalist. He took Alcaraz to three tough sets, too, even though he had to be on fumes).

Andy Murray (GBR): No. 52 ==========> No. 42 (Murray shook off the disappointment of losing in the first round in Madrid, and dropped down to the Challenger level to get some matches. And then he got Gaël Monfils in the first round. And then he won the title).

Ugo Humbert (FRA): No. 77 ==========> No. 50 (Still a ways away from his career high of No. 25, but the 24-year-old moves into the top 50 as he, like Murray, shrugged off the disappointment of a first-round exit in Madrid. He went to Cagliari, and won the tournament).

Aslan Karatsev (RUS): No. 121 ==========> No. 53 (That’s much more like it for the former No. 14 – that must feel like a century ago. He qualified and made it all the way to the semis in Madrid, cutting his ranking more than in half).

Daniel Altmaier (GER): No. 92 ==========> No. 65 (Altmaier was another lucky loser made good in Madrid, where he reached the quarterfinals. He’ll have to do it all over again this week in the Rome qualifying, where he faces Josef Kovalik in the first round).

Zhizhen Zhang (CHN): No. 99 ==========> No. 69 (The charismatic Chinese player, 26, made it to the Madrid quarterfinals. Monday, he’s in the Rome qualifying in the “what have you done for me lately” file. He faces young Italian Francesco Maestrelli. It’s a career high).

Facundo Diaz Acosta (ARG): No. 160 ==========> No. 134 (He had to wait an extra week, but the 22-year-old reaches a career high as the points from his title at the Savannah Challenger are added on).

Gabriel Diallo (CAN): No. 169 ==========> No. 162 (the 21-year-old Canadian is on the Challenger circuit in Asia, a first experience that’s going… well, so-so. He made the second round in Seoul, losing to No. 2 seed Chris Eubanks. And he lost in the first round in Gwangju. He’s at it again this week in Busan. But it’s still another career high).

Bu Yunchaokete (CHN): No. 242 ==========> No. 164 (Another Chinese male player is on the comeup as the 21-year-old adds points from a quarterfinal in Gwangju and a title at the Seoul Challenger, which had a very good field and was a top prize-money event at that level. It’s a career high).

Leo Borg (SWE): No. 521 ==========> No. 450 (Dad Bjorn was in Madrid hanging with Alcaraz. But young Borg, 19, jumped to a career high after winning an ITF in Jakarta, Indonesia).

Tristan Boyer (USA): No. 863 ==========> No. 509 (The 22-year-old moves way up to a career high – jumping more than 350 spots after going from the qualifying to the final at the Savannah Challenger a few weeks ago. Along the way, he beat … Jack Sock in Sarasota a few weeks ago).

ON THE DOWNSWING

Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN): No. 9 ==========> No. 10 (Still in the top 10, Auger-Aliassime drops a spot after he went out in his opener, and Taylor Fritz reached the fourth round).

Alexander Zverev (GER): No. 16 ==========> No. 22 (It felt like it took awhile for Zverev to drop out of the top 20, considering how much time he missed in the second half of 2023 and how relatively few matches he’s won since his return. But he did reach the fourth round in Madrid, and showed some good stuff).

Sebastian Baez (ARG): No. 31 ==========> No. 40 (Baez lost in the third round in Madrid, but that drops him nine spots because of his 2022 result in Estoril, where he won the tournament. He may have put himself out of the seeding in Paris, which will make it tougher for him to make a run there. Especially because he has a third-round to defend in Rome).

Jack Draper (GBR): No. 48 ==========> No. 58 (It’s not as dire as the situation facing his countrywoman Emma Raducanu, in terms of struggling physically with a fast leap to the top level. But Draper missed Madrid, where he made the third round last year).

Diego Schwartzman (ARG): No. 72 ==========> No. 91 (Schwartzman went out in the first round of Madrid after making the third round a year ago (it was the second round then; but with the expansion of the draw the round of 32 is now the third round. And then he went out in the first round of the Cagliari Challenger during the second week. It’s rough right now).

David Goffin (BEL): No. 95 ==========> No. 107 (Goffin is out of the top 100, after losing in the first round of Madrid. He did make the semis at the Aix-en-Provence Challenger the second week, but not enough to stave this off after he failed to defend round of 16 points in Madrid from last year. The last time the Belgian was outside the top 100 was after Wimbledon in 2014)

Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO): No. 138 ==========> No. 173 (Basilashvili, the former No. 16, lost in the the first round of the Cagliari Challlenger last week to Thanasi Kokkinakis, with points to defend from a third round in Madrid last year. He’s in the qualifying in Rome, to face young Italian wild card Flavio Cobolli).

Alejandro Tabilo (CHI): No. 154 ==========> No. 190 (The 25-year-old Canadian-Chilean, whose career high in singles is No. 64, didn’t play last week and drops points from a quarterfinal at the Munich 250 tournament a year ago, as well as points from losing in the final round of Madrid qualifying. He’s at a Challenger in Italy this week, not the main event in Rome).

Jack Sock (USA): No. 175 ==========> No. 226 (Sock had 80 points fall off from winning the Savannah Challenger a year ago. But he didn’t make an attempt to defend them; instead, he was on the pickleball circuit playing mixed doubles with a 14-year-old).