A month before her 30th birthday, Chloe Paquet reached the third round of her home Grand Slam at Roland Garros. It was the first time she had gone that deep in a major. And yet, she had additional goals on her mind.
"Since I started playing tennis, I wanted to be in the Top 100," Paquet said at Roland Garros. "I've always dreamt of that. I was very close. I was No.101, but it's not the Top 100. I can't say I'm in the Top 100, and I hope it will be this year."
As of Monday, Paquet can check that milestone off her list. The French veteran made her Top 100 debut this week, rising eight spots to No.98 after reaching the semifinals at WTA 250 Iasi. She also reached the quarterfinals at WTA 250 Palermo two weeks ago.
The long-awaited Top 100 appearance comes two years and three months after she hit her previous career-high of No.101 for the first time in April 2022. The surge is even more remarkable because she had slid outside the Top 200 as recently as last August.
"Since the beginning of the year, I feel good mentally, even though the beginning of the year was quite complicated," Paquet said at Roland Garros. "But I won a lot of matches that really made me confident. ... I trust in my game. I trust in myself, and I think that you can feel it on the court."
Sixteen-year-old Samson skyrockets up the rankings
Czech teenager Laura Samson was this week's biggest mover in the PIF WTA Singles Rankings, jumping 261 spots Monday to a new career-high of No.373.
The 16-year-old Samson made her WTA main-draw debut on home soil in Prague last week. This year's Junior Roland Garros finalist took full advantage of that opportunity, making her way to the semifinals before retiring with a left thigh injury.
Samson became the youngest player to reach a Hologic WTA Tour semifinal since 15-year-old Coco Gauff won the 2019 Linz title as a lucky loser nearly five years ago.
Mirra Andreeva returns to career-high; Osaka returns to Top 100
There were no changes in the Top 20 on Monday, but another teenager, 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva, took a leap nearer to that echelon. Andreeva rose nine spots back to her career-high ranking of No.23 after capturing her first WTA singles title at Iasi last week.
Last year's Hologic WTA Tour Newcomer of the Year, Andreeva had previously peaked at No.23 after she made her first Grand Slam semifinal at Roland Garros earlier this year.
Former World No.1 Naomi Osaka made a return of her own this week. The four-time Grand Slam champion rose two spots to No.100, returning to the Top 100 for the first time since April of 2023.
Osaka came back to action in January after being off tour for maternity leave for over a year. Osaka, who gave birth to daughter Shai last summer, started this season ranked No.833.
Other notable rankings movements
Magda Linette, +7 to No.41: Poland's Linette won her third career WTA singles title, and her first since 2020, at Prague last week.
Magdalena Frech, +9 to No.48: Frech reached her first career WTA singles final in Prague and re-entered the Top 50. She and Linette played the first all-Polish tour-level final of the Open Era last week.
Elina Avanesyan, +18 to No.58: Avanesyan was another first-time WTA finalist last week, reaching the Iasi championship match and hitting a new career-high ranking in the process. Avanesyan's previous career-high was No.60 earlier this year.
Alycia Parks, +22 to No.102: Parks is edging ever closer to reclaiming a Top 100 spot after a summer surge where she has won 15 of her last 16 matches. Former World No.40 Parks won her second WTA 125 title of the season last week in Warsaw.
Olga Danilovic, +27 to No.121: The Serbian No.1 made the Iasi semifinals last week and had a match point against Andreeva before falling in a third-set tiebreak.
Anastasia Zakharova, +28 to No.125: The 22-year-old is up to a new career-high after winning the W100 ITF Challenger title in Figueira da Foz, Portugal last week. Earlier this year, Zakharova made the third round of the Australian Open as a qualifier.
Ella Seidel, +15 to No.135: Another career-high ranking for a rising player, as the 19-year-old German made her second straight WTA 250 quarterfinal last week in Prague. She made her first tour-level quarterfinal two weeks ago in Budapest.
Maya Joint, +19 to No.140: One more teenager on the move is 18-year-old Aussie Joint, who made her first WTA 125 final at Warsaw and pushed Parks to three sets. Joint began the year ranked No.684.
Selena Janicijevic, +28 to No.160: The 22-year-old Frenchwoman made her first WTA quarterfinal in Iasi, before losing in three sets to her compatriot Paquet. Janicijevic bested her previous career-high of No.171 set last year.
Lea Boskovic, +32 to No.170: Also hitting a new career-high is the 24-year-old Croat, who made her first WTA quarterfinal as a lucky loser in Prague.
Oksana Selekhmeteva, +48 to No.200: The 21-year-old is back in the Top 200 after making the Prague quarterfinals. Selekhmeteva has been as high as No.138 in 2022, but missed the second half of last year and fell as low as No.906 this February.
