WTA Rankings Report – As of Oct. 28, 2024

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A WTA 500 in Tokyo and a WTA 250 in Guangzhou last week, with multiple desisters and non-participators, meant yet another week full of opportunity for lower-ranked players.

The only top-10 player to make a dent this week was Zheng Qinwen, who wins the Tokyo tournament.

Among those to take advantage were Olga Danilovic (winning her second career title and her first since she was just 17), Caroline Dolehide and Sofia Kenin.

The top 10 changed a little, because they dropped the points earned at last year’s WTA Finals a week early – as they do, for undetermined reasons other than it can create a better battle for year-end rankings.

Sabalenka and Gauff dropped 700. But Swiatek dropped 1,695, and falls over 1,000 behind at No. 2. Jessica Pegula dropped 1,080.

ATP Rankings Report – As of Oct. 28, 2024

And Canada killed it in Mexico with Marina Stakusic winning the biggest title of her young career at the WTA 125 Abierto Tampico, and Rebecca Marino winning the doubles (and making the semis in singles a week after winning the Challenger in Calgary – indoors at altitude).

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

Paula Badosa (ESP): No. 14 =========> No. 12 (Badosa begged off in Tokyo. But she still rose two spots in the rankings – all the way to No. 11 – mostly because Anna Kalinskaya and Barbora Krejcikova (who also didn’t play last week) dropped points along with Beatriz Haddad Maia. She’ll take it).

Diana Shnaider (RUS): No. 16 =========> No. 14 (You wouldn’t have had Emma Navarro and Shnaider, both out of the US college system, in the top 15 at the start of the season. But Shnaider’s semifinal in Tokyo gets her to a career high. And she’s not done; she’s playing Hong Kong this week as the No. 1 seed. She’s the only player in the top 30 in action).

Katie Boulter (GBR): No. 33 =========> No. 29 (Another nice little bump for Boulter, who made the semis in Tokyo and is in action this week in Hong Kong. She’ll meet Aoi Ito in the first round).

Leylah Fernandez (CAN): No. 35 =========> No. 32 (Fernandez bumps herself back up in the top 32, with a quarterfinal effort in Tokyo. She’s in Hong Kong his week to finish off the regular season, with the BJK Cup finals still to come).

Olga Danilovic (SRB): No. 86 =========> No. 52 (It felt like the former junior hotshot’s career wasn’t really going anywhere after she won a WTA clay-court title in Moscow in 2018, when she was just 17. But she’s made a big move at this season’s end and, already at a career high going in, is at a new career high with her run to the Guangzhou title. She dropped just one set.. Just 40 points away from the top 50. She began the season ranked No. 121).

Renata Zarazua (MEX): No. 71 =========> No. 62 (Zarazua, at 27, was a player you’d figure probably had hit her ceiling when she got into the top 100. But she’s quietly bettered that; she’s at another career high after winning the big ITF in Tyler, Texas).

Caroline Dolehide (USA): No. 101 =========> No. 78 (Dolehide came out of the qualifying and made the Guangzhou final. But was probably out of gas in the loss to Olga Danilovic. She’s pulled herself off the bubble and won’t have to qualify at the Australian Open in January).

Sofia Kenin (USA): No. 155 =========> No. 88 (With a wild card into Tokyo that she’s maximized, Kenin is back in the top 100 by making the final. She would have won the USTA reciprocal wild card for the Australian Open anyway. But this way, she goes in on her own steam, to the tournament she actually won five years – and a tennis lifetime – ago).

Sara Sorribes Tormo (ESP): No. 112 =========> No. 103 (The 28-year-old is one of the players scrambling for an AO spot in January, and headed to the WTA 125 events in Mexico to do it. It’s a country that’s been good to her. She made a dent in Tampico by making the semis. She’s playing another in Mérida this week).

Alycia Parks (USA): No. 115=========> No. 109 (Parks is another on a top-100 quest. And after playing in Guangzhou last week, she’s hustling to Mérida to play in the WTA 125 there).

***Marino made the singles semis in Tampico – and won the doubles title.***

Rebecca Marino (CAN): No. 118 =========> No. 114 (Marino, too, is looking to avoid the Melbourne qualies. Her title at the Calgary ITF and her semifinal in Tampico have helped. She’s got another WTA 125 in Merida this week, where she’ll play a qualifier in the first round. She also won the doubles in Tampico, upping her ranking nearly 90 spots).

Marina Stakusic (CAN): No. 140 =========> No. 116 (Stakusic went from the qualifying to the title in Tampico, upsetting the No. 5, No. 6 and No. 7 seeds along the way. It’s the biggest title of her career so far, and she’s at a new career high. The Canadian has a similar event in Mérida this week).

Zeynep Sonmez (TUR): No. 148 =========> No. 127 (Low-key, the top player from Turkey is moving up the charts. She qualified in Tokyo and won a round – and then took off for Mérida – a long trip – where she’ll play No. 6 seed Maria Lourdes Carlé in the first round).

Bianca Andreescu (CAN): No. 159 =========> No. 135 (Andreescu got some luck with a late-substitute qualifier in the first round of Tokyo, then a retirement from Haddad Maia. She underwent a severe course correction against Boulter in the quarters, winning just three games. But it was all enough to make a nice leap in the rankings. It’s still a long way from where she should be; and it’s unlikely she can get a wild card into the Australian Open. With that ranking, it’ll be no picnic to even get into the warmup events, either. They’re pretty in demand. Her next moves will be interesting to watch).

Anouk Koevermans (NED): No. 213 =========> No. 191 (The little-known 20-year-old has posted some good results this year, and is into the top 200 for the first time).

Kristina Mladenovic (FRA): No. 215 =========> No. 197 (Give the 31-year-old former top-10 player credit for grinding. She has dropped down to the ITF circuit for the last while now, trying to get that singles ranking back. Her effort in Les Franqueses Del Valles means she’s back into the top 200 – save for one week at No. 198 over the summer – for the first time in more than a year).

Iva Jovic (USA): No. 248 =========> No. 212 (Jovic, still just 16, has put up some wins on the pro circuit this fall, and found herself into another final – this one at the $100K ITF in Tyler Texas. She began the season at No. 658. She might well play both the Australian Open qualifying – and the junior event – in January).

Anna-Lena Friedsam (GER): No. 408 =========> No. 379 (Friedsam, the 30-year-old former No. 45, was in action last week at the Poitiers ITF but lost in the quarterfinals. Still, she gets herse’f back into the top 400. Friedsam missed a lot of time; last week was her first since last April, when she retired in the first round of an ITF in Slovenia. She had played just eight tournaments in 2024, and lost her opener in six of them).

Beatriz Haddad Maia (BRA): No. 10 =========> No. 17 (No sooner did she get back into the top 10 but the 28-year-old Brazilian tumbles out after losing in the second round in Tokyo).

Caroline Garcia (FRA): No. 43 =========> No. 51 (Garcia ended her 2024 season almost before any of the better players, after Guadalajara in mid-September, with a 17-16 record for 2024. She knew her ranking would take a bit of a beating, but she prioritized her well-being. She drops points from last year and remains barely in the top 50).

Veronika Kudermetova (RUS): No. 62 =========> No. 76 (Kudermetova lost in the first round of Tokyo and continued her slide down the rankings. She was ranked No. 16 at the start of 2024).

Victoria Mboko (CAN): No. 291 =========> No. 302 (Mboko, still just 18, had gotten close to her career high but she has missed these two ITFs in Canada. She drops points from last year and falls back out of the top 300. It’s been a bumpy road).