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PARIS – Two weeks of tournaments – including the two weeks of Rome – mean a lot of catching up to do after this Masters 1000.
And this Monday is also the entry deadline for the Wimbledon main draw, and the qualifying for the first week of the grass-court season. So those precious points over the last two weeks come just in time for many.
None of the top 20 are playing a final tuneup this week; the highest ranked player in the draws is Magda Linette, at No. 22.
ON THE UPSIDE
Elena Rybakina (KAZ): No. 6 =======> No. 4 (The reigning Wimbledon champion won her first major 1000 title on clay in Rome, with the help of, yes, three injury retirements – including from world No. 1 Iga Swiatek, and from Anhelina Kalinina in the final. But they don’t ask HOW you do something, once you do it. She is up to a career high No. 4 in the rankings now (and would be knocking on the door of No. 2 if the 2022 Wimbledon points counted. But once that tournament is done and dusted in 2023 at least we can stop talking about that).
Jelena Ostapenko (LAT): No. 20 =======> No. 17 (Ostapenko may well find herself among the top 16 seeds at Roland Garros, which as the 2017 champion is a place she knows she can have success. Her Rome semifinal was a big boost).
Anhelina Kalinina (UKR): No. 47 =======> No. 25 (The Ukrainian cuts her ranking basically in half, into the top 25 after the Rome final, even if she was unable to finish. It was a gruelling fortnight both physically and emotionally, but must be satisfying).
Paula Badosa (ESP): No. 35 =======> No. 29 (The former No. 2 has shown some encouraging signs of late. And her quarter-final effort in Rome puts her at least in a position to be seeded at Roland Garros, which will save her the wear and tear of, say, playing someone like Ons Jabeur in the first round – this happened in Rome).
Marie Bouzkova (CZE): No. 38 =======> No. 32 (Bouzkova also put herself in a position to be seeded in Paris with her fourth-round effort in Rome. She also had a nice run in doubles, making the semifinals with Bethanie Mattek-Sands).
Karolina Muchova (CZE): No. 52 =======> No. 42 (Muchova is nicely back into the top 50 – finally – after using a protected ranking of No. 22 and needing some time to get her ranking back to a reasonable level after injury. She was impressive in Rome, ultimately losing in the fourth round to Veronika Kudermetova).
Linda Noskova (CZE): No. 54 =======> No. 48 (Noskova, who made it to No. 50, gets inside the top 50 for the first time after losing in the second round in Rome, and making the quarterfinals at the Paris 125. In the battle of the Czech Teen Lindas (with Fruhvirtova), she continues to lead. And still only 18. A year ago, she had to qualify in Paris. This year, well past that).
Jasmine Paolini (ITA): No. 65 =======> No. 52 (The Italian lost in the second round in Rome. But that allowed her a trip to Florence for the WTA 125 there. And she won it).
Caty McNally (USA): No. 62 =======> No. 54 (The 21-year-old American is making some nice moves, finally. WIth a second round in Rome and a final at the Paris 125, she’s just 60 or so points out of the top 50 and at another career high).
Marketa Vondrousova (CZE): No. 70 =======> No. 57 (Another player working her way back from injury, Vondrousova made the fourth round in Rome before losing to eventual champion Rybakina).
Sara Errani (ITA): No. 78 =======> No. 70 (Errani, now 36, just keeps hanging in there. She lost in the first round in Rome, but made the semis in Florence and is back into the top 70).
Diane Parry (FRA): No. 109 =======> No. 77 (The 20-year-old made a semifinal in Zagreb the first week of Rome, and won the Paris WTA 125. That’s a huge jump to a place where she won’t have to worry about making the Wimbledon main draw. Ka-Ching.
Camila Osorio (COL): No. 100 =======> No. 84 (The likable Colombian rises after qualifying and making the fourth round in Rome. Unfortunately for her, it was just a bit too late for Roland Garros, where she ends up as the No. 1 seed in qualifying. That’s a spot spot to be in. But she’s playing well enough to get through).
Caroline Dolehide (USA): No. 112 =======> No. 99 (Dolehide is a super-talented, all-around American player who got herself into super physical shape a bit ago. And it’s paying off. She won an ITF in Naples, and moves into the top 100 for the first time in her career, at age 24. She’s playing the RG qualies this week).
Olga Danilovic (SRB): No. 138 =======> No. 104 (The former top junior with the great athletic pedigree loses in the first round of qualifying in Rome, but turns around and wins the $100K ITF in Madrid and rises to near a career high).
Taylor Townsend (USA): No. 168 =======> No. 108 (Townsend and Leylah Fernandez pulled out of the Rome doubles. But Townsend made that pay off as she made the Florence final. She also qualified in Rome in singles and made the third round. So that’s a huge jump of 60 spots in the singles rankings).
Sofia Kenin (USA): No. 134=======> No. 120 (Kenin, who made the Roland Garros final in 2020, is in the qualifying there this week. Which is a bit of a shock but given how tough a time she’s had coming back from injury, par for the course. She made the third round in Rome, upsetting No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka in the second round, and you’d think she’ll get through this week).
Sara Sorribes Tormo (ESP): No. 155 =======> No. 132 (She’s still 100 spots below her career high as she comes back from a long injury break. But Sorribes Tormo makes a dent in in after beating Leylah Fernandez and making the Madrid $100K ITF final. She pulled out of a rematch with Fernandez in the first round in Rabat this week, though.
Yanina Wickmayer (BEL): No. 191 =======> No. 140 (The 33-year-old on the comeback trail won the ITF in Trnava, Slovakia last week, giving her ranking a nice boost).
Genie Bouchard (CAN): No. 233 =======> No. 217 (Bouchard played a WTA 125 in Florence last week. And since things just always seem to … happen to her when she drops down a level, she aggravated a knee issue when playing Errani in the quarterfinals and had to retire – a rare occurrence in her career. Still, she raised her ranking enough that she should have no problem getting into the Wimbledon qualifying next month. Assuming the knee will allow).
ON THE DOWNSIDE
Magda Linette (POL): No. 19 =======> No. 21 (Linette slips out of the top 20 after a third-round effort in Rome; she made the quarterfinals in Strasbourg last year, and those points fall off this week).
Martina Trevisan (ITA): No. 18 =======> No. 26 (The 29-year-old drops out of the top 20, where she rested only briefly, after losing her opening match in Rome. She has a Roland Garros semifinal coming up, which accounts for nearly half of her 1608 points. So the pressure is on. She is playing Rabat this week, as the No. 1 seed).
Petra Martic (CRO): No. 28 =======> No. 37 (Martic puts herself out of the seeding in Paris after losing her opener in Rome, from a third-round result a year ago. She might trouble someone in the first round, depending on her draw).
Bianca Andreescu (CAN): No. 31 =======> No. 41 (As with many of the Canadians, The Madrid-Rome double wasn’t happy times for Andreescu, who drops out of the top 40 and will be unseeded at Roland Garros. She was spanked in her Rome opener by Vondrousova, after making the fourth round a year ago).
Mayar Sherif (EGY): No. 43 =======> No. 55 (At a career high before Rome, Sherif lost in the first round there and drops down again, after her points from last year’s title at a WTA 125 in Karlsruhe drop off).
Jil Teichmann (SUI): No. 58 =======> No. 75 (Teichmann made it to No. 21 after a great No. 22. But those ranking points defences are proving challenging, and her second-round exit in Rome drops her fourth-round points from a year ago, and puts her out of the top 75. She had a semi in Madrid, the Rome result and a fourth round in Paris all to defend in May).
Amanda Anisimova (USA): No. 61 =======> No. 89 (The 21-year-old American is on an indeterminate break, after you could visibly see her struggling out there for the longest time. She drops her points from a fourth round in Rome last year).
Claire Liu (USA): No. 56 =======> No. 100 (Points from a title at the Paris 125, and a final at the WTA 250 in Rabat a year ago drop off as Liu loses in the second round in Rome, and the first round at the Florence 125).
Océane Dodin (FRA): No. 99=======> No. 121 (Dodin is out of the top 100 after losing in Rome qualifying, losing in the second round in Paris and losing in the first round in Strasbourg. Not the leadup she wanted to her national Grand Slam).
Erika Andreeva (RUS): No. 121 =======> No. 147 (The 18-year-old Andreeva sister lost in the first round of the Rome qualifying, and drops points from a run from the qualifying through to the final at a big ITF in Spain a year ago. Her sister Mirra, 16, ends up sliding ahead of her by four ranking spots. Which should make it run in the Andreeva family right now as they upset the natural order of things!).
Kaja Juvan (SLO): No. 130 =======> No. 220 (The former No. 58 drops nearly 100 spots as she loses in the second round in Florence, but drops her points from reaching the Strasbourg final a year ago – a 67-6, 6-7, 7-6 loss to Angelique Kerber).
Angelique Kerber (GERR): No. 143 =======> No. 306 (A year ago exactly, Kerber was winning the Strasbourg title after the above-mentioned battle with Juvan. Now, after having had her first child, she says she’s coming back. We’ll see what the future holds at age 35).
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