WTA Rankings Update 2021: Sabalenka ascends to new peak

Aryna Sabalenka added another milestone to her rapidly growing list of achievements with the release of Monday's WTA Rankings.

The 22-year-old Belarusian rose three spots to a new career-high ranking of World No.7, having extended her match-win streak to 15 as she claimed her third consecutive WTA singles title at the Abu Dhabi WTA Women’s Tennis Open last week.

Sabalenka's previous career-high ranking was World No.9, which she first attained on February 4, 2019.

Sabalenka, who entered Abu Dhabi ranked World No.10, nudged fellow Top 10 players Bianca Andreescu, Petra Kvitova, and Kiki Bertens down one spot each. There is no other movement in the Top 25 this week.

Here are some of the week's other key ranking movers:

Ons Jabeur (+1, No.31 to No.30): The Tunisian, who is the most recent player to defeat Sabalenka (at 2020 Roland Garros), lost to the eventual champion in the third round of Abu Dhabi. However, that was still enough to push Jabeur up to a new career-high ranking of her own, as she edged into the Top 30 for the first time.

Veronika Kudermetova (+10, No.46 to No.36): It was a breakthrough week in the U.A.E. for the 23-year-old Russian, as she made her first WTA singles final after four previous semifinal losses. Kudermetova, who picked up her fifth career Top 5 win over Elina Svitolina during the week, is also at a new career-high ranking, besting her previous peak of World No.38.

Sara Sorribes Tormo (+4, No.66 to No.62): The Spaniard's quarterfinal run at Abu Dhabi also pushes her to a new career-high ranking, two spots ahead of her previous best of World No.64. Sorribes Tormo opened the season with a straight-set victory over last year's Roland Garros semifinalist Nadia Podoroska, the 2020 WTA Newcomer of the Year.

Marta Kostyuk (+21, No.99 to No.78): A big jump occurred for the 18-year-old Ukrainian, as her semifinal showing in Abu Dhabi propelled her to a new career-high ranking, well outpacing her previous peak of World No.97. Kostyuk defeated Sorribes Tormo in the last eight to reach her second career WTA semifinal, and first at WTA 500-level.