Last week, the Hologic WTA Tour's Asian swing returned with a 500-level event in Seoul and a second Hua Hin 250 event of the season. The only change in the Top 10 on the PIF Race to the Finals Leaderboard was Seoul runner-up Daria Kasatkina's three-place climb to No.10, displacing Barbora Krejcikova.
However, some significant movements occurred in the rankings. Seoul champion Beatriz Haddad Maia has now won 12 of her past 14 matches, also including the Cleveland final and US Open quarterfinals and jumps five places to No.12.
Hua Hin champion Rebecca Sramkova has had quite the fortnight. One week after reaching her first final in Monastir, the 27-year-old Slovak continued her momentum on a different continent to claim her first title. Ranked No.136 two weeks ago, Sramkova rockets up another 41 places to hit a new career high of No.61.
Finally a champion ⭐️
— wta (@WTA) September 22, 2024
Very well deserved, @RebeccaSramkova 👏 #ThailandOpen pic.twitter.com/lIoVrIM9GS
At the age of 36, Laura Siegemund reached her fifth career final, in Hua Hin, winning the fourth longest match of the Open Era along the way. The German jumps 30 places to No.69.
Former US Open champion Emma Raducanu is up another 16 places to No.54 after reaching the Seoul quarterfinals. Polina Kudermetova, 21, also made the last eight of Seoul -- her first WTA 500 quarterfinal appearance -- and rises 36 spots to a new career high of No.127.
In Hua Hin, former NCAA champion Arianne Hartono made her first WTA semifinal as a qualifier. The Dutchwoman is up 39 places to No.141, just six places off the career high of No.135 she set in May. Former Roland Garros semifinalist Tamara Zidansek also reached the last four -- her first WTA semifinal since Adelaide 2 in January 2022 -- and is boosted 59 places to No.202.
Meanwhile, former junior No.1 Alina Korneeva took the Caldas da Rainha ITF W100 title. The 17-year-old was playing just her second tournament after wrist surgery sidelined her for seven months of the season and climbs back up 42 places to No.228.
Also at ITF level, Germany's Ella Seidel took the Pazardzhik ITF W75 title and moves up 15 to a new career high of No.123. Australia's Talia Gibson won her second consecutive Perth ITF W75 tournament, and the 20-year-old climbs 14 places to a new peak of No.129.
Meanwhile, Italy's Giorgia Pedone has been in brilliant form of late. The 20-year-old has reached five straight ITF finals (winning three titles) and won 23 of her past 25 matches. Her run to last week's San Miguel de Tucuman ITF W50 final has lifted her 32 places to make her Top 200 debut at No.190.
Nauhany Vitoria Leme Da Silva, 14, has become the first player born in 2010 to gain a WTA ranking. The Brazilian teenager qualified for the Leme ITF W35 event two weeks ago and enters the rankings at No.1291.