WTA Rankings Report – As of May 18, 2026

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Two weeks’ worth of tournaments during Rome, and a lot of rankings changes for this Monday.

Also – Monday’s rankings are the cutoff for Wimbledon main draw entry, so a lot of scrambling there too.

A lot of new career highs – none more notable than Romania’s Sorana Cirstea who, at 36 and in her final season, is the oldest-ever player to hit the top 20 for the first time.

Let’s not call her old; let’s compare her to a fine wine.

(For the complete rankings update for Monday, click here).

Elina Svitolina (UKR): No. 10 ============> No. 7
(The 31-year-old is Rome champion for the third time, and the first time in eight years as she re-enters the top 10. That puts her in the top eight seeds for Roland Garros)

Karolina Muchova (CZE): No. 11 ============> No. 10
(Muchova didn’t kill it in Rome – she only made the second round, losing her opener to Anastasia Potapova – But she still did enough to also get back into the top 10, for the first time since Feb. 2024)

Sorana Cirstea (ROU): No. 27 ============> No. 18
(Oh hey – look who is in the top 20, after yet another impressive week as she goes through her final year on tour, at age 36. Cirstea made the semis in Rome. Cirstea’s previous career high of No. 21 was reached nearly 13 years ago. An impressive finale).

Anastasia Potapova (AUT): No. 38 ============> No. 28
(Potapova, whose career high of No. 21 came in the summer of 2023, is back in the top 30 after another solid performance. Potapova qualified, and made the fourth round in Rome. Now that her new ranking status is finally going to kick in, she won’t have to hit the qualifying any more. She had to do that in Madrid as well, and went all the way to the semifinals as a lucky loser. Potapova was ranked No. 97 when she arrived in Linz a month ago; she’s gone 14-4 since then and lopped 70 points off her ranking).

Jelena Ostapenko (LAT): No. 36 ============> No. 29
(Never say die for the 28-year-old who is back into the top 30, and will be seeded at Roland Garros. She made the quarterfials in Rome. Ostapenko shocked the world and won in Paris back in 2017, the first year she had even won a match there).

Alexandra Eala (PHI): No. 42 ============> No. 38
(Eala made the third round in Rome).

Barbora Krejcikova (CZE): No. 53 ============> No. 42
(Health-wise, it’s been tough for the 30-year-old in 2026. But she resurfaced last week at a WTA 125 in Parma after losing in the second round in Rome, and makes the final to move close to the top 40. If she’s healthy, no one wants to run to her at Roland Garros in the first round).

Dayana Yastremska (UKR): No. 52 ============> No. 45
(The 26-year-old from Ukraine – okay, how did THAT happen, that she’s already 26 – has been quiet lately. But she gets herself back into the top 50 with a title at the WTA 125 in Parma, after losing in the first round in Rome).

Caty McNally (USA): No. 63 ============> No. 56
(The 24-year-old American is back in the top 60, so close to a career high of No. 54 reached exactly three long years ago ago, after injury and a slow comeback. She also reunited with Coco Gauff for doubles in Rome; the pair ended up withdrawing before the quarterfinals with McNally citing illness).

Nikola Bartunkova (CZE): No. 94 ============> No. 65
(The all-court 20-year-old Czech makes a big leap up, making the fourth round after getting into the Rome draw as a lucky loser).

Donna Vekic (CRO): No. 89 ============> No. 70
(A steep fall is being followed by a slow return back. Step by step for the 29-year-old, whose carer high of No. 17 came in less than a year and a half ago, She makes the final at a WTA 125 in Istanbul).

Erika Andreeva (RUS): No. 306 ============> No. 244
(Andreeva, the less-known older sister of Mirra, reached a high of No. 65 back in Oct. 2024. She missed some time and is slowly rounding into form again, winning an ITF in Zagreb out of the qualifying).

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Sorana Cirstea (ROU)(No. 18)
Talia Gibson (AUS) (No. 55)
Zeynep Sonmez (TUR) (No. 59)
Nikola Bartunkova (CZE) (No. 65)
Panna Udvardy (HUN) (No. 68)
Veronika Podrez (No. 142)
Mary Stoiana (USA) (No. 146)
Jazmin Ortenzi (ARG) (No. 152)
Vendula Valdmannova (CZE) (No. 201)

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Jasmine Paolini (ITA): No. 8 ============> No. 13
(Paolini was the champion in Rome a year ago, in both singles and doubles. She didn’t defend her title – not many expected her to, to be honest. And after being in the top 10 evry week for the last two years, she’s out. Paolini has fourth-round points to defend at Roland Garros).

Clara Tauson (DEN): No. 18 ============> No. 21
(Tauson’s year has mostly been one of early loss, retirements and late withdrawals. But she’s stayed in the top 20, until now. Tauson has won just one match since Dubai in February).

Diana Shnaider (RUS): No. 20 ============> No. 25
(Shnaider is another who’s out of the top 20 this week. She did have some consolation in Rome, though; she and reunited partner Mirra Andreeva won the doubles title).

Emma Raducanu (GBR): No. 30 ============> No. 37
(Raducanu has been dealing, it seems, with the aftereffects of a virus she caught last winter in the Middle East. And while she’s shown up at a few events, notably Rome, she hasn’t played since Indian Wells. In the meantime, she’s reunited with the coach who helped her get to that unexpected US Open title nearly five years ago. She’s due to play in Strasbourg this week. But her luck is such that, now unseeded, she might get a tough one in Paris).

Emma Navarro (USA): No. 35 ============> No.39
(Clearly something is not right with Navarro. But at least she got back on the winning side with a victory in Strasbourg Sunday against Sara Bejlek).

Lois Boisson (FRA): No. 43 ============> No. 50
(The big blow to Boisson’s ranking will be when her semifinal points from last year’s Roland Garros fall off. It will be painful. But she’s hardly played since then because of injury. She finally won a match in her fourth try back, in the first round of Strasbourg against Wang Xinyu on Sunday. And she, like Raducanu, has reunited with the coach who brought her to her best career result. Can you go back again? We shall see).

Veronika Kudermetova (RUS): No. 70 ============> No. 87
(We haven’t seen Kudermetova on court since Ningbo last fall. And she’s out of Roland Garros as well).

Sofia Kenin (USA): No. 74 ============> No. 88
(The former Roland Garros finalist and Australian Open champ is struggling again, after losing her opener in Rome to Bianca Andreescu. She also lost her first-round qualifying match in Strasbourg this weekend).

Peyton Stearns (USA): No. 49 ============> No. 92
(Tough blow as Stearns doubles her ranking after Rome. She beat Kalinskaya, Keys, Osaka and 2025 champ Svitolina befor losing to Paolini in the semifinals a year ago; this year, she lost to Madison Keys in the second round. Stearns has won back-to-back matches just twice in 2026).

Bianca Andreescu (CAN): No. 137 ============> No. 160
(Andreescu actually did well at Rome a year ago – beating Vekic and Rybakina and making the fourth round, so losing her second round to Belinda Bencic hurt the ranking. That Rome tournament in 2025 was the last time she won back-to-back matches at the WTA level. The Canadian is the No. 25 seed in the qualifying in Paris, and will play Tuesday. A year ago, she also played the qualifying and lost in the second round to Nao Hibino).

Danielle Collins (USA): No. 134 ============> No. 169
(Collins made the fourth round in Rome a year ago, beating Iga Swiatek in the third round and drops those points. No word on when, if, she might return to action; she hasn’t played since losing in the first round of the US Open last summer)

Victoria Azarenka (BLR): No. 215 ============> No. 245
(Nope. No word on what’s up with the former No. 1, who won a round in Rome last year but who also hasn’t played since the US Open).

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