For the first time in the past 263 tournaments, the World No.1 and No.2 players faced off, with No.1 Iga Swiatek edging No.2 Aryna Sabalenka in the Stuttgart final. The last time this happened came at the 2018 Australian Open final, when Caroline Wozniacki defeated Simona Halep.

Swiatek extended her stay at No.1 for the 56th consecutive week and maintains a 2,084-point lead over Sabalenka.

Their positions did not change in this week’s rankings. As a matter of fact, there was no movement among the Top 10. In fact, you have to scroll down to No.15 before there is any change, with Karolina Pliskova, a quarterfinalist in Stuttgart, moving up two spots from No.17 to No.15.

In doubles, Katerina Siniakova remains No.1, a position she has held for the past 33 consecutive weeks, bringing her career total to 95 weeks. Siniakova, who has won 14 of her 15 doubles matches this year, has been recently sidelined with a right wrist injury. 

Stuttgart reaction

Movers and shakers

This week’s biggest movers inside the Top 100 reside in the bottom half:

Rebeka Masarova +19 (from No.93 to No.74): Masarova owns the biggest jump among the Top 100 following her runner-up performance at the ITF W100 event in Oeiras. A first-time finalist earlier this year in Auckland, Masarova moved up 19 spots and sits at a career-high No.74.

Peyton Stearns +17 (from No.89 to No.72): After starting the year ranked outside the Top 200, Stearns has won eight of her past 10 matches, reaching the final in Bogota followed by a final appearance at the Charleston ITF W100 last week, her fourth ITF final of 2023. The 2022 NCAA champion has reached a career-high No.72.

Danka Kovinic +15 (from No.72 to No.57): The 28-year-old from Montenegro climbs 15 spots this week after capturing the Oeiras ITF W100 title last week. It was her 14th ITF Circuit title, all coming on clay. Kovinic, whose career-high of No.46 came back in February 2016, has reached three WTA finals -- Tianjin 2015, Istanbul 2016 and Charleston 2021 -- but is yet to win a tour-level title.

Bubbling under

The ITF World Tour also enabled some noteworthy moves outside the Top 100.

Emma Navarro, Stearns' predecessor as NCAA champion in 2021, was the victor in the Charleston ITF W100 final that pitted the pair against each other. Navarro, 21, rises 20 places from No.121 to No.101, and is now just one spot away frommaking her Top 100 debut.

Former World No.88 Aliona Bolsova captured the Koper ITF W60 title last week and rises 18 places to No.130. The Spaniard had sunk to No.230 last June and was outside the Top 200 as recently as September, but since then has won three titles at ITF W60 level or above.

Last week, 15-year-old Mirra Andreeva became the first player ever to win two trophies at ITF W60 level or above before turning 16 when she took the Chiasso title. The Australian Open girls' finalist backed it up with a third ITF W60 tournament victory, also on clay in Switzerland. Andreeva defeated Fiona Ferro to claim the title in Bellinzona, and her 49-spot rise sees her crack the Top 200 for the first time at No.194. She was unranked just 13 months ago.

Andreeva, the youngest player in the Top 300, is now 13-0 at pro level in 2023 -- a promising record to take into Madrid, where she will play her second tour-level main draw (and first at WTA 1000 level) as a wild card.

Back-to-back WTA 1000s on tap

With back-to-back WTA 1000 tournaments up next in Madrid and Rome, here is a look at the rankings points on the line:

Most combined rankings points to defend at Madrid and Rome

1,585: Ons Jabeur (1,000 in Madrid, won; 585 in Rome, runner-up)

900: Iga Swiatek (900 in Rome, won)

755: Jessica Pegula (650 in Madrid, runner-up; 105 in Rome, Round of 16)

580: Jil Teichmann (390 in Madrid, semifinals; 190 in Rome, quarterfinals)

480: Ekaterina Alexandrova (420 in Madrid, semifinals; 60 in Rome, Round of 32)

Total points to defend: Players in Top 10

900: No.1 Iga Swiatek

360: No.2 Aryna Sabalenka

755: No.3 Jessica Pegula

1,585: No.4 Ons Jabeur

0: No.5 Caroline Garcia

225: No.6 Coco Gauff

225: No.7 Elena Rybakina

470: No.8 Daria Kasatkina

255: No.9 Maria Sakkari

10: No.10 Petra Kvitova