Rankings Watch: Barty extends stay at top, Hsieh regains Doubles No.1

This week marks the first week under the adjusted WTA ranking system that was approved last week. 

Under the adjusted system, points earned from last week’s Miami Open presented by Itaú have been added to the rankings, while points earned in 2019 at Miami, Guadalajara, Charleston and Monterrey have dropped off.

Here is a look some of his week’s ranking movement, following the completion of this year’s second WTA 1000 tournament of the 2021 season:

Hsieh Su-Wei returns to top

Hsieh Su-Wei returns to the top of the WTA Rankings in doubles this week, marking the 40th week of her career as WTA World No.1 in doubles. After first climbing to No.1 in 2014, Hsieh most recently held the top spot for 31 consecutive weeks before being replaced earlier this year on Feb. 22 by Aryna Sabalenka. Seven weeks later, Hsieh has returned to the top spot.

Hsieh has most recently won titles at 2019 Wimbledon, 2019 Madrid, 2020 Doha, 2020 Rome, 2020 Dubai and 2020 Brisbane, accounting for more than half of her ranking points.

Japanese doubles duo reaches career high

Entering the 2021 season, neither Shuko Aoyama nor Ena Shibahara had reached the Top 20 in doubles. Aoyama’s best ranking before the season was No.21, while Shibahara had reached No.23.

After winning the biggest title of their career in Miami, a WTA 1000 tournament, the Japanese doubles team both reached a career-high ranking, sharing the No.13 spot in this week’s doubles rankings. With three doubles titles to their credit this year, they also occupy the top spot on the Porsche Race to Shenzhen Leaderboard.

Barty extends stay at No.1

WTA World No.1 Ashleigh Barty returned to Miami to repeat as the champion at the Miami Open, capturing her 10th career singles title. Barty extends her stay at No.1, bringing her career total to 70 weeks atop the WTA Rankings, a mark that stands as the 10th most in WTA history. Next week, she will tie Caroline Wozniacki for ninth on the list when she extends her tally to 71 weeks at No.1.

Barty holds a 1,201-point lead over No.2 ranked Naomi Osaka. Last week in Miami, Osaka threatened to regain the WTA World No.1 ranking but fell short with a loss in the quarterfinals as Maria Sakkari snapped her 23-match win streak. 

Sorribes Tormo reaches career high

Sara Sorribes Tormo makes her Top 50 debut this week as she climbs 10 spots to a career-high ranking of No.48. Sorribes Tormo notched three wins over Top 30 opponents last week in Miami en route to the quarterfinals, where she fell short to eventual finalist Bianca Andreescu.

This is the first time since the week of Sept. 30, 2019 that two Spanish women are ranked in the Top 50. Sorribes Tormo is joined by No.13 ranked Garbiñe Muguruza.

Other notable ranking movement

Bianca Andreescu (+3, from No.9 to No.6):  The Miami finalist jumped three spots this week, moving to No.6. 

Maria Sakkari (+6, from No.25 to No.19): With a win over current World No.2 Osaka in the Miami quarterfinals, Sakkari secured her climb to No.19, a new career-high ranking this week.

Anastasija Sevastova (+10, from No.57 to No.47): The Latvian was ranked at a career high of World No.11 in August 2019, but fell out of the Top 50 last October. A run to the Miami quarterfinals sees Sevastova moving up again.

Tereza Martincova (+7, from No.105 to No.98): The 26-year-old Czech player makes her Top 100 debut this week after reaching the second round of Miami. Martincova earned a spot in the main draw through qualifying and defeated Yaroslava Shvedova in the first round before falling to Andreescu.

Tsvetana Pironkova (+18, from No.131 to No.113): Former Wimbledon semifinalist Pironkova returned from a three-year maternity leave at the US Open last year. Just five tournaments later, she's closing back in on the Top 100. In Miami last week, the Bulgarian qualified and reached the second round, where she held two match points over Aryna Sabalenka before falling in a third-set tiebreak.

Ana Konjuh (+98, from No.338 to No.240): The Croat, who is returning from her fourth elbow surgery, was one of the big stories of the Miami Open. Former World No.20 Konjuh reached the fourth round as a wildcard via defeats of Madison Keys and Iga Swiatek, the first time she had won three consecutive WTA main draw matches since Wimbledon 2017.

Bethanie Mattek-Sands (+4 in doubles, from No.20 to No.16): Playing alongside Iga Swiatek in Miami, the former WTA World No.1 doubles player advanced to the semifinals in Miami. As a result, Mattek-Sands climbed to No.16 this week, reaching her best doubles ranking since the week of Jan. 15, 2018.