WTA Rankings Report – As of April 8, 2024

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A relatively calm week after the 1000 in Miami, although with two WTA events on tap a lot of ranking opportunities for those who played.

Next week, a BJK Cup week, won’t have many moves with players either off or taking part.

But time’s running out to squeeze into the main draw for Roland Garros. So what opportunities there are need to be maximized.

You can find those on the bubble at the bottom of this post. Added to that is the fact that protected rankings are ubiquitous these days; there will probably be seven just in the Madrid main draw alone, even if all of them won’t make the date.

There will be at least that many, or more, at Roland Garros so the cutoff could be in the mid-90s.

ATP Rankings Report – As of April 8, 2024

For the complete, updated rankings picture, click here.

Maria Sakkari (GRE): No. 7 ==========> No. 6 (Sakkari isn’t winning tournaments, but she is going deep on a regular basis. And No. 6 is as high as she has been since last October, after making the Charleston semifinals).

Danielle Collins (USA): No. 22 ==========> No. 15 (What a roll the American has been on; she has lost just one set since the opening set of her seven-match roll through the Miami Open – to Ons Jabeur in the secondround in Charleston. Without a bye in either tournament, that’s 12 matches in a row and two titles. She was at No. 71 in early February, and outside the top 50 when she got to Miami).

Marie Bouzkova (CZE): No. 42 ==========> No. 35 (Bouzkova has had a busy week in Bogotá, with marathon wins in singles followed by a lot of doubles as well; she and Sara Sorribes Tormo fell late Saturday night in the semifinals. She was denied in the final – again – but she’ll looking pretty good to be seeded at Madrid, Rome and Roland Garros (although she’s defending fourth-round points in Rome).

Taylor Townsend (USA): No. 68 ==========> No. 57 (Townsend has been balling this month. And her run to the third round of Charleston, where she defeated Sofia Kenin and Ekaterina Alexandrova, puts her into the top 60 for the first time, and at a career high).

Camila Osorio (COL): No. 85 ==========> No. 63 (Osorio was a popular winner, in her second career title at home in Colombia. The hugged – and thanked – everybody. And after some time struggling with injury she’s back on the come-up).

Ashlyn Krueger (USA): No. 73 ==========> No. 69(The 19-year-old American is starting to get good, under the radar. She’s at a career high after a second round in Charleston. And she won the doubles there, with Sloane Stephens. She’s into the top 100 in that discipline for the first time).

Maria Lourdes Carlé (ARG): No. 98 ==========> No. 84 (A career high for the 24-year-old from Argentina, who just jumped into the top 100 last week for the first time. She wins the $100K ITF in la Bisbal, Spain).

Daria Saville (AUS): No. 108 ==========> No. 94 (The plucky Aussie, now 30, is back in the top 100 after qualifying in Charleston and winning a round. It’s been a long road back from serious knee surgery for her).

Sara Errani (ITA): No. 117 ==========> No. 101 (Errani, 36, played some marathons in getting to the semifinals in Bogotá, including one agonizing, beautiful one against Sara Sorribes Tormo that put her 7-0 vs. the Spaniard. And it’s paid off for her ranking, which is just a few points from returning to the top 100).

Caroline Wozniacki (DEN): No. 126 ==========> No. 118 (Winning a round in Charleston helped Wozniacki’s number. But she won’t be able to make the cut for Roland Garros so she will need a wild card. Will they accomodate?)

Amanda Anisimova (USA): No. 264 ==========> No. 238 (Anisimova has a protected ranking of No. 61 that will keep her in good stead for awhile. But even though she lost in the second round of Charleston, it took a third-set tiebreak to beat her and it looks like she’s starting to round back into form after a fair bit of time away. Let’s not forget she was a Roland Garros semifinalist at age 17).

Ena Shibahara (JPN): No. 384 ==========> No. 351 (A quality doubles player, the 26-year-old cut ties with her partner, Shuko Aoyama, as a regular commitment because she wanted to go out and see how she could maximize in singles this year. That means dropping down a few levels from the top-tier WTA events she plays in doubles She made the semis of a mid-level ITF in Japan last week, and moves to a career high).

Oksana Selekhmeteva (RUS): No. 840 ==========> No. 641 (The 21-year-old lefty fell off the map for quite a while – she didn’t play from a first-round qualifying loss at Roland Garros last may, until an ITF in Portugal during the second week of this year’s Australian Open. But she qualified and made the quarterfinals at the big ITF in La Bisbal, and hopefully that’s the start of a good comeback. She was at No. 138 as a career high in Aug. 2022)

Ons Jabeur (TUN): No. 6 ==========> No. 9 (Jabeur made the second round on Charleston, where she lost to Danielle Collins. She has won just two matches this year – neither inside the top 150 – and none since a win over Emma Raducanu in Abu Dhabi in early February. And given she was the defending champion in Charleston, that drops a lot of points from her resumé. She’s defending a semi in Stuttgart in two weeks).

Sofia Kenin (USA): No. 57 ==========> No. 61 (Kenin, who won the Miami Open doubles with Bethanie Mattek-Sands, is just sort of floaing and existing in this part of the rankings. She lost her opener in Miami to Katie Volynets, and her opener in Charleston to Taylor Townsend. So far this year, her only victory was a first-round win in Hobart against Greet Minnen. Her next big points defence is a third round in Rome).

Tatjana Maria (GER): No. 46 ==========> No. 65 (Maria, who is now 36, made the quarterfinals in Bogotá. But as defending champion that wasn’t enough to take the rankings hit; she falls nearly 20 spots).

Peyton Stearns (USA): No. 65 ==========> No. 80 (Stearns had issues with her shoulder in Miami, and she didn’t play Charleston. So her results from getting to the Bogota final a year ago – which moved her into the top 100 for the first time – fall off. She has a TON of points (275) coming up to defend: the final of a $100K in Charleston in two weeks, a quarterfinal in Rabat, a third round at Roland Garros. With her improved ranking she’s likely – if healthy – to play the bigger events this year, Madrid and Rome. If she can do well, no problem. But if not it’s a scramble to try to play second-week 125s and cobble together a defence).

Belinda Bencic (SUI): No. 62 ==========> No. 90 (No worries for Bencic, who is awaiting the birst of her first child. But she drops her points from making the final in Charleston a year ago).

Paula Badosa (ESP): No. 82 ==========> No. 91 (Badosa got a tough draw in Charleston, having to face the on-fire Collins in the first round. But even though it appears her back issues have been resolved, at least to an extent, it’s taking her quite a while to get back on the winning track. She was defending quarterfinal points there, and has QF points in Stuttgart and fourth-round points in Madrid and Rome coming up. It’s crunch time).

Hailey Baptiste (USA): No. 96 ==========> No. 107 (After working so hard to get into the top 100 for the first time, Baptiste slips out again after two weeks, losing in the second round of Bogotá. A year ago, she qualified and won a round in Charleston).

Carol Zhao (CAN): No. 208 ==========> No. 229 (Zhao lost in the first round of qualifying in Bogotá, dropping her points from winning a round in the main draw a year ago. She will definitely be on the bubble for qualifying at Roland Garros).

Katherine Sebov (CAN): No. 209 ==========> No. 248 (A tough section of the rankings for Sebov, who will have a hard time getting into qualifying in Paris and has to take a few changes to get into any kind of qualifying at the top level. She came back in Charleston after missing months since the Australian Open with a wrist issue, but lost in the first round of qualifying after qualifying and winning a round in 2023).

Genie Bouchard (CAN): No. 302 ==========> No. 328 (Bouchard, who finally won her first pickleball match this past week, drops points from winning a round in Bogotá a year ago, after getting a wild card into that event despite being idle since the Australian Open qualifying. She has some points in Madrid coming up for renewal, but there’s really no news about whether she’ll ever play tennis again).