Two first-time grass-court champions were crowned in last week's pair of WTA 500 events. Daria Kasatkina took home the title in Eastbourne, while Diana Shnaider rolled to the title in Bad Homburg.
Kasatkina's title run, which snapped a five-match losing streak in finals dating back to 2022, was a fitting step given her pedigree on grass. The 27-year-old had been the previous year's runner-up in Eastbourne and has a Wimbledon quarterfinal under her belt from 2018. She moves up two places from No.14 to No.12 in this week's edition of the PIF WTA Rankings.
By contrast, Shnaider's experience on the surface was virtually nonexistent. The 20-year-old played her first professional tournament on grass at Wimbledon qualifying last year, where she fell to British wild card Anna Brogan. Bad Homburg was just her fourth professional grass-court tournament. Yet Shnaider mowed through a field that included former champion Angelique Kerber, Paula Badosa and Donna Vekic. The efficiency of Shnaider’s left-handed power game on grass felt like a foreshadowing of the future.
After adding a second tour-level title to her Hua Hin trophy in February (as well as a WTA 125 title run in Paris in May), Shnaider soars up 17 places from No.47 to a career high of No.30.
Wozniacki, Badosa return to Top 100; Tomova breaks Top 50
Two players on the comeback trail were boosted by strong performances in Bad Homburg. Caroline Wozniacki snapped a four-match losing streak to upset Elina Svitolina in the first round, her first completed victory over a Top 30 player this year and went on to reach the quarterfinals. Ten months after returning from maternity leave, the former World No.1 returns to the Top 100, climbing 21 places from No.112 to No.91.
Former World No.2 Paula Badosa also reached the Bad Homburg quarterfinals -- the first of her career on grass. The Spaniard, who was sidelined with a back injury in the second half of 2023, rises 20 spots from No.113 to No.93.
Bad Homburg was also the site of another significant milestone for 29-year-old Viktoriya Tomova. The Bulgarian qualified and reached her first WTA 500 semifinal, saving five match points in her quarterfinal against Anna Blinkova. Tomova has been in strong form of late. Since May, she has also reached the Rabat semifinals, the Valencia WTA 125 final and posted an upset of Ekaterina Alexandrova at Roland Garros. This week, she makes her Top 50 debut, rising 10 places to No.48.
Other notable rankings movements
Leylah Fernandez (+5, from No.30 to No.25): In Eastbourne, the Canadian reached her first final at WTA 500 level or above since the 2021 US Open and the first of her career on grass.
Donna Vekic (+12, from No.49 to No.37): Once again, the Croatian showed that she is a perennial grass-court threat with a run to the Bad Homburg final. Five of Vekic's 13 career finals have come on grass.
Emma Raducanu (+33, from No.168 to No.135): The former US Open champion's strong grass-court swing continued with a quarterfinal showing in Eastbourne. In the second round, Raducanu saved a match point to upset No.2 seed Jessica Pegula for her first career Top 10 win.
Tereza Valentova (+48, from No.335 to No.287): The Roland Garros junior champion has also been near-unstoppable in the pros this year. Valentova, 17, picked up her fifth ITF title (and second at ITF W75 level) of the season last week at home in Stare Splavy. Her pro record in 2024 is a remarkable 30-2, and she makes her Top 300 debut after starting the year outside the Top 600.
Ranah Stoiber (+35, from No.600 to No.565) and Ella McDonald (+54, from No.640 to No.586): Two British 18-year-olds have been thriving on grass in the past two weeks. Stoiber and McDonald both had promising performances in the Ilkley ITF W100 a fortnight ago, qualifying and reaching the second round and quarterfinals, respectively. Both then notched their first career Top 100 wins in Eastbourne qualifying last week: Stoiber over Cristina Bucsa, and McDonald over Ana Bogdan.
Janice Tjen (+121, from No.850 to No.729): The Pepperdine University graduate has enjoyed an auspicious start to her pro career, winning her first 17 matches for the loss of only one set as she swept up three consecutive ITF W15 titles in Monastir. The 22-year-old Indonesian was unranked just one month ago.
Julieta Pareja (UNR to No.969): The 15-year-old American became the second player born in 2009 to win a pro title two weeks ago, winning the Los Angeles ITF W15 in her home state. Pareja is the third player born in 2009 to enter the Top 1000, following Hannah Klugman and Luna Vujovic.
