This week’s WTA Rankings include a historic milestone with Ons Jabeur making her Top 10 debut, a return to the doubles World No.1 ranking for Elise Mertens and a career-high ranking for the 2021 Indian Wells champion Paula Badosa.
Badosa’s title boosts ranking
Spain’s Paula Badosa captured the Indian Wells championship Sunday, the biggest title of her career. She climbs from No.27 to a new career-high ranking of No.13. Badosa becomes the first Spanish woman to win Indian Wells title by holding off Victoria Azarenka in a three-hour final. After starting the year ranked No.70, Badosa has enjoyed a breakthrough 2021 campaign in which she has won two titles.
Champions Corner: How Indian Wells champ Badosa balances tennis and friendships
Earlier this year, she won Belgrade and reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal at Roland Garros. With just two weeks remaining in the season, Badosa finds herself battling for a qualification spot for the WTA Finals.
Jabeur reaches career milestone
Ons Jabeur’s trailblazing 2021 campaign continues. The 27-year-old makes her Top 10 debut this week. With her run to the semifinals in Indian Wells, Jabeur secured her Top 10 breakthrough by climbing six spots, from No.14 to No.8. She becomes the highest-ranked Arab tennis player in history.
Mertens returns to doubles No.1
Elise Mertens and Hsieh Su-Wei won Indian Wells, their second title of 2021. Mertens returns to the top of the WTA doubles rankings, while Hsieh rises to No.2.
The doubles No.1 ranking has changed hands seven times in the past four months. This week marks Mertens 12th overall week atop the doubles rankings.
Read more: Hsieh and Mertens prevail to win Indian Wells doubles title
Other notable rankings movements
Spain’s Garbiñe Muguruza, who lost her Indian Wells opener to Ajla Tomljanovic, returns to the Top 5 for the first time since the week of July 2, 2018; she climbs from No.6 to No.5.
Jessica Pegula reached her seventh quarterfinal this season in Indian Wells, and fifth at WTA 1000 level or above. The American is boosted three places to a new career-high at No.21.
In her bid to become Indian Wells' first ever three-time champion, Victoria Azarenka came up just short. But by reaching the final, the Belarusian climbs to No.26 (from No.32).
Despite falling in the final round of qualifying, Italy’s Jasmine Paolini and Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia made the most of their second chances in Indian Wells as lucky losers. Paolini upset Elise Mertens en route to the third round, and rises nine places to a new career-high of No.54. Haddad Maia went one better, stunning top seed Karolina Pliskova to reach the fourth round. The 25-year-old earns a return to the WTA Top 100 and the largest ranking jump among this week’s Top 100, climbing 21 spots from No.115 to No.94.
Aliaksandra Sasnovich climbs 16 spots from No.100 to No.84 after reaching the round of 16 at Indian Wells, a run that included wins over US Open champion Emma Raducanu and former World No.1 Simona Halep.
Poland’s Magdalena Frech becomes the 12th player to break the Top 100 for the first time in 2021, climbing seven spots from No.106 to No.99. The 23-year-old qualified for Indian Wells and reached the second round, continuing a strong season that also saw her capture her first WTA 125 title in Concord in August.
Anna Kalinskaya reached the fourth round as a qualifier in Indian Wells, upsetting Sara Sorribes Tormo en route. The Russian, who set a career-high of World No.96 in October 2019, rises 26 places from No.151 to No.125.
University of Michigan alumna Emina Bektas, who made her WTA main draw debut in San Jose this August, captured the Las Vegas ITF W60 title two weeks ago. The 28-year-old American soars 97 places from No.334 to No.237, three spots off the career-high of No.234 she set in September 2017.
Junior World No.11 Elvina Kalieva enjoyed the best tournament of her young career at the Rancho Santa Fe ITF W60 event last week. The 18-year-old American reached her biggest final to date as a qualifier, upsetting Zarina Diyas, Polona Hercog and Fiona Ferro before falling to top seed Rebecca Peterson. Kalieva rockets up 218 places, from No.639 to No.421.