
Destanee Aiava, who's been through it in her career, jumps back into the top 200 this week.
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Only a couple of moves at the very bottom of the top 50, as most of the players are on vacay – although some 15 of the top 50 are in the BJK Cup finals.
When you think about it, given there are 12 teams (or were), that’s not so many.
There aren’t many moves upwards, but plenty on the down side as players who had points to defend either didn’t do it – or sacrificed the opportunity to play for their country.
And, in many cases, they sat on the bench. Still, there was $$$ and national pride at stake.
For the complete, updated WTA rankings, click here.
Destanee Aiava (AUS): No. 228 =======> No. 198 (The 24-year-old is back inside the top 200 after winning an ITF in Brisbane).


Carol Zhao (CAN): No. 266 =======> No. 259 (Zhao moves up a little after making the quarterfinals at a $40K ITF in Austin last week. She’s playing the WTA 125 on the Har-Tru in Charleston this week and looking to cement a spot in the Australian Open qualifying. Looks like it’s going to be tight, but the cutoff in Melbourne is lower than at the other majors because of the expense and time involved in getting there – and the lack of tuneup events available to players at that rankings level before the main event).

Stacey Fung (CAN): No. 292 =======> No. 278 (Same story for Fung, who reached the semifinals at a similar event in Chihuahua, Mexico. She, too, is looking for more points in Charleston).
Malaika Rapolu (USA): No. 809 =======> No. 564 (A great story in Austin where the 21-year-old Longhorns alumni, given a wild card into the $40K ITF, wins the tournament and moves up 245 spots. Rapolu only played about a year at the ITF junior level and, like many, had her development come to a halt as the pandemic hit hard. A blue-chip recruit, she did the smart thing and signed with Texas that August and played pro events mostly on school breaks. Getting out there in July, Rapolu has gone 23-3. She won back-to-back $15Ks in Mexico in late October, and won the Austin event with the loss of just one set).


Sonay Kartal (GBR) (No. 87)
Zeynep Sonmez (TUR) (No. 90)
Anca Todoni (ROU) (No. 112)
Antonia Ruzic (CRO) (No. 143)
Aoi Ito (JPN) (No. 150)

Diane Parry (FRA): No. 50 =======> No. 54 (Not only did Parry give up on defending her points from making the WTA 125 final in Chile a year ago to play a BJK Cup qualifier all the way down in Bogota on clay, she got injured in her first match there. Rough for France, as well, as they lose in the 5th and deciding doubles and mostly likely will drop down a level for 2025).
Harriet Dart (GBR): No. 88 =======> No. 101 (Dart, like Parry, also gave up potentially playing points-relevant matches and make sure she defended her points from reaching the final of a $100K in Japan a year ago. But she’s with the Great Britain BJK Cup team that upset Canada on Sunday. And she falls out of the top 100 as a result).

Océane Dodin (FRA): No. 104 =======> No. 115 (The AO main draw might not happen for Dodin this year, as she drops points from winning a $40K in Luxembourg and didn’t play last week. But there are still some events she can play to make it).
Wei Sijia (CHN): No. 131 =======> No. 146 (At her career high last week, the 20-year-old had 56 points to defend from making the final of the $100K in Takasaki, Japan from the qualifying last year. But she played BJK Cup qualifiers instead. You’d imagine she might not have had … much choice. But she drops 15 spots).

Sara Bejlek (CZE): No. 142 =======> No. 188 (Bejlek was a late add to the Czech squad that went down to Poland at the Billie Jean King Cup finals. and drops points from winning the WTA 125 in Chile a year ago. She then had to hustle all the way back down there – at altitude, on clay – from the indoor confines of Málaga to try to catch up. The No. 8 seed, she plays Valeriya Stakhova in he first round. Bejlek’s last match was more than six weeks ago).

Elizabeth Mandlik (USA): No. 215 =======> No. 249 (Mandlik, the daughter of Hana Mandlikova, drops her points from making the Chilea WTA 125 semis a year ago and puts herself on the AO qualifying bubble. She’s in Chile this week at the WTA 125 to try to get those points back, and has a couple of other results to defend before the end of the season. At this point a year ago, she was ranked No. 115).
On the borderline
Here are some of the players who have a couple of weeks left to try to squeeze into the main draw at the Australian Open.
The top 104 make it; but with all the protected rankings these days, the initial cutoff is typically inside the top 100.




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