WTA Rankings Report – As of Feb. 12, 2024

–

A fair few top players came (and some went, quickly) with the 500 in Abu Dhabi kicking off a three-tournament swing in the middle east.

And with the field rather sparse in Cluj-Napoca, that WTA 250 offered some great opportunities for rankings moves.

It was also a week of nice comeback moves for both Anastasija Sevastova and Emma Raducanu, who will look to build on that in the coming weeks.

ATP Rankings Report – As of Feb. 12, 2024

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

Elena Rybakina (KAZ): No. 5 =========> No. 4 (A move up with her effort in Abu Dhabi has more to do with Jessica Pegula missing the entire Middle East Swing. The American is in a pretty strong position not to drop any further, though, with more than 1,500 points between her and No. 6 Ons Jabeur. But it’s title No. 2 on the season for Rybakina).

Sorana Cirstea (ROU): No. 26 =========> No. 22 (Cirstea’s surprise run to the Abu Dhabi quarterfinals brings her, two months shy of 34, within one spot of her career-best ranking. That was reached more than a decade ago, in Aug. 2013. She got a tough one in the first round of Doha in … No. 1 Iga Swiatek).

Linda Noskova (CZE): No. 31 =========> No. 28 (Another new career high for Noskova, who moves inside the top 30 for the first time after qualifying in Abu Dhabi and winning a round).

Sara Sorribes Tormo (ESP): No. 54 =========> No. 49 (Torribes Tormo moves back into the top 50 after getting to the third round of Abu Dhabi as a lucky loser. Unfortunately, she fell and injured her thumb, leading to a retirement, a withdrawal from doubles and also a withdrawal from Doha this week).

Ana Bogdan (ROU): No. 65 =========> No. 54 (Bogdan reaches the final at her home-country event in Romania as the No. 8 seed).

Karolina Pliskova (CZE): No. 78 =========> No. 59 (Pliskova wins her first title since 2020 as an unseeded player, and cuts a nice slice off her shocking ranking. But of course that meant she couldn’t try to qualify in Doha. So at her rankings point, success at the smaller events is a double-edged sword).

Danielle Collins (USA): No. 71 =========> No. 63 (Collins qualified in Abu Dhabi and met and beat Naomi Osaka in the first round before losing in the third round. After a tough fight to get through the first match, she qualified in Doha again this week and defeated No. 13 seed Veronika Kudermetova in the first round on Sunday).

Jaqueline Cristian (ROU): No. 81 =========> No. 72 (Cristian, who has been coming back from a long layoff for quite awhile now, is finally getting close to he career-high ranking of No. 58 – after the 2022 Australian Open – with a run to the Cluj semifinals as a wild card).

Ashlyn Krueger (USA): No. 82 =========> No. 74 (Krueger, just 19, is getting better by the week and went from qualifying to the third round in Abu Dhabi to move within one spot of her career high. She also qualified in Doha, and had her first-round match against Paula Badosa suspended by rain in the first set on Sunday).

Harriet Dart (GBR): No. 103 =========> No. 92 (Dart gets back into the top 100 after qualifying and making the Cluj semifinals. She also is into the doubles final).

Storm Hunter (AUS): No. 150 =========> No. 126 (Hunter, better known as the No. 3 doubles player in the world, moves up 24 in singles by making the final at the WTA 125 in Mumbai).

Heather Watson (GBR): No. 156 =========> No. 132 (Out of nowhere, the 31-year-old veteran qualified and made the third round in Abu Dhabi. She also is in the doubles final. Watson’s career high of No. 38 came more than nine years ago, at the start of 2015).

Rebecca Marino (CAN): No. 165 =========> No. 146 (A great week for Marino at the $100K ITF in Irapuato, Mexico where not only did she win the singles, but also reached the doubles final. It’s the 12th ITF title of her career, and the biggest – she’s always done well in Mexico. She’s there again this week for a $50K in Morelia).

Emma Raducanu (GBR): No. 296 =========> No. 262 (Raducanu won two matches in Abu Dhabi, helping that ranking quite a bit. With a wild card in Doha, she drew Anhelina Kalinina – a player who has been struggling to win matches – in the first round).

Anastasija Sevastova (LAT): No. 666 =========> No. 482 (After a long injury/maternity break, Sevastova played her first WTA-level event last week, and made the quarterfinals in Cluj. With that start, it shouldn’t be too long until the former No. 11 gets her ranking back to where it should be).

Veronika Kudermetova (RUS): No. 16 =========> No. 18 (Kudermetova, who is not having a good patch, lost in the second round in Abu Dhabi and drops two spots. She had a semifinal to defend this week in Doha – but went out in the first round to qualifier Danielle Collins. And then, later this spring, semifinal points to defend at both Madrid and Rome, at the WTA 1000 level).

Anastasia Potapova (RUS): No. 27 =========> No. 34 (Potapova didn’t play Abu Dhabi, and so she drops all those points from a year ago and is out of the top 30, with a first-round match against No. 9 seed Barbora Krejcikova looming in the first round of Doha. There’s room, going forward, because she lost in the first round both at the US Open last summer and the Australian Open last month. But first she has a quarterfinal at Indian Wells to defend).

Belinda Bencic (SUI): No. 22 =========> No. 36 (Bencic’s off preparing for the arrival of her first child, so this number will only drop in the next months).

Océane Dodin (FRA): No. 72 =========> No. 82 (She’s 8-3 in three events this season, including a fourth-round run in Melbourne. But Idle last week, Dodin drops points from winning a $60K ITF a year ago. She has two more $60K finals to defend through Indian Wells, which given her ranking she will play – thus adding potential of big points, but also the possibility of not defending those from the smaller events a year ago).

Jil Teichmann (SUI): No. 161 =========> No. 187 (The former No. 21 has seen her ranking in free fall the last year or so, and in losing in the final round of qualifying in Cluj, drops most of her points from Abu Dhabi a year ago).

Shelby Rogers (USA): No. 189 =========> No. 261 (Rogers is operating on an injury protection around No. 50 as she comes back from a long injury layoff. She drops points from her run from the qualifying to the quarters in Abu Dhabi a year ago)