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The brief WTA interlude on clay began last week, after the conclusion of the grass season.

And as is always the case, with most of the top players taking a break. Some, like Petra Kvitova, even got married. And some are even playing the Hopman Cup exhibition (with WTA 250s on the sked the same week, there are permission and fines involved with that).

So it’s a buffet of opportunity for the lower ranked players who just keep going, week after week.

Of those to capitalize, No. 2 seed Anna Bondar won the WTA 125 in Iasi, Romania. Zheng Qinwen won her first career title in Palermo, and lucky loser Maria Timofeeva of Russia won the whole thing in Budapest.

ATP Rankings Report – As of July 24, 2023

(For the complete, updated WTA Tour rankings for Monday, click here).

ON THE UPSWING

Zheng Qinwen (CHN): No. 26 ========> No. 24 (Somewhat surprisingly, Palermo is the first career WTA title for Zheng, who recently added the well-travelled and experienced Wim Fissette as a coach.

Mayar Sherif (EGY): No. 38 ========> No. 31 (Sherif’s semifinal effort in Palermo moves her up seven and ties her career high. The No. 2 seed meets Germany’s Eva Lys in the first round in Hamburg this week).

Ana Bogdan (ROU): No. 49 ========> No. 39 (Bogdan, 30, wins the WTA 125 in Iasi and moves up to a new career high. She is the No. 3 seed in Lausanne, and plays Simona Waltert, a Swiss, in the first round)

Nadia Podoroska (ARG): No. 80 ========> No. 66 (Slowly but surely, the former No. 36 is moving back up the rankings after an injury absence. She made the Budapest semifinals last week, and will play Viktoriya Tomova in Hamburg).

Camila Osorio (COL): No. 74 ========> No. 67 (Same situation for Osorio, working her way back to her career high of No. 33 reached in April, 2022. She was a quarterfinalist in Palermo, and as the No. 8 seed meets Kamilla Rakhimova in Hamburg this week).

Kateryna Baindl (UKR): No. 100 ========> No. 77 (A nice leap for Baindl, née Kozlova, who makes the final in Budapest).

Rebecca Marino (CAN): No. 92 ========> No. 88 (Marino’s effort to reach the Granby semifinals moves her up. She’s waiting for a couple of withdrawals to get into the qualifying in D.C. next week).

***Day, seen here in Guadalajara last fall in a match against Genie Bouchard, won the $100K ITF in Granby Sunday.***

Kayla Day (USA): No. 125 ========> No. 94 (The former top junior moves to a career high with her effort to win in Granby this week. At 23, she finally breaks into the top 100).

Daria Snigur (UKR): No. 155 ========> No. 128 (Snigur wins the $100K in Spain, on hard court, and jumps 27 spots. She will play Clara Tauson in the first round of Warsaw this week).

***Timofeeva in the qualifying at Roland Garros earlier this summer. She won her first career WTA title in Budapest Sunday.***

Maria Timofeeva (RUS): No. 246 ========> No. 129 (A leap into the top 150 for the 19-year-old Russian, who lost in qualifying in Budapest, got in as a lucky loser … and won the whole thing. She’s in the main draw in Hamburg, to meet No. 7 seed Arantxa Rus in the first round).

Katherine Sebov (CAN): No. 160 ========> No. 139 (Sebov’s run to the Granby final brings her within three of her career high ranking. Sebov can add to that at a $60K ITF in Dallas, Texas this coming week).

Kristina Mladenovic (FRA): No. 204 ========> No. 180 (It’s been a huge struggle the last couple of years for Mladenovic, a former top-10 player. She reaches the final at a $40K in Portugal, and moves back into the top 200)

Victoria Mboko (CAN): No. 331 ========> No. 316 (The 16-year-old Canadian moves up again, to another career high. Given she was ranked No. 617 less than two months ago, that’s impressive work).

Tamira Paszek (AUT): No. 393 ========> No. 323 (Paszek, ranked No. 26 a decade ago, is 32 now and she continues to play well under the radar. She lost in the second round of a $25K ITF in Roehampton last week, and won a similar one on carpet in Don Benito, Spain the second week of Wimbledon).

***Paszek, back in her peak years at Roland Garros (There’s some Kenin-ness to that serve, isn’t there).***

Cadence Brace (CAN): No. 405 ========> No. 367 (The 18-year-old Canadian breaks into the top 400, after making the quarterfinals at the Granby ITF).

Amarissa Toth (HUN): No. 548 ========> No. 463 (The 20-year-old Hungarian player few had ever heard of until this week moves up 85 spots in the rankings, to a career high, after opponent Zhuai Shang retired in their first-round match in Budapest. It was Toth’s first career victory at the WTA level, even if she didn’t exactly earn it).

Bianca Jolie Fernandez (CAN): No. 680 ========> No. 622 (Leylah’s little sister, 19, reaches a new career high after winning a round at the Granby Challenger).

ON THE DOWNSWING

Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU): No. 31 ========> No. 41 (Begu made the final in Iasi, losing to countrywoman Bondar. She was a wild card, and you can see why she might have wanted to play, as she was defending her title in Palermo a year ago, with those points falling off Monday. Begu is the No. 1 seed again this week, this time at a WTA 250 in Lausanne. She plays wild card Fiona Ferro in the first round)

Bernarda Pera (USA): No. 39 ========> No. 56 (Pera had already dropped the points from her title in Budapest a year ago. And as the top seed in Budapest, defending her title, she was upset in the first round. The No. 3 seed awaits a qualifier in Hamburg this week – where she also is the defending champion. Those are the points that fall off Monday, dropping her out of the top 50).

Lucia Bronzetti (ITA): No. 53 ========> No. 69 (Bronzetti drops points from Palermo a year ago last year, unable to defend her final as she lost in the first round. She plays Tamara Zidansek in Lausanne).

Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR): No. 64 ========> No. 75 (Idle last week, the Belarussian drops her points from making the quarterfinals in Hamburg last year. She meets No. 2 seed Karolina Muchova in Warsaw in the first round).

Maryna Zanevska (BEL): No. 90 ========> No. 114 (Zanevska falls out of the top 100, after she doesn’t play last week and drops her points from a Hamburg semifinal a year ago).

Natalija Stevanovic (SRB): No. 145 ========> No. 166 (Up to a career high last week after her Wimbledon effort, the 28-year-old from Serbia drops more than 20 spots, as she doesn’t defend points earned from making the final of a $60K ITF in Kazakhstan a year ago. She’s in the Warsaw qualifying, with 50 more points from a semifinal at a $100K in Poland come up for defence a week from now).