UK: 18+ USA: 21+ | Begambleaware.org | T&Cs apply | Play Responsibly
This period of the WTA calendar is a very exciting time. In fact, some would probably argue that it’s the best time of the year on the WTA Tour. With a flurry of clay court events unfolding on a weekly basis, we are seeing who is peaking at the right time. We are also seeing who is struggling with their form, which does tend to happen during the clay court swing. Anyway, for the previous seven days, there was just one WTA-level event played, and that event was a 500-level tournament in Stuttgart.
Otherwise known as the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, this tournament attracted all of the top WTA players in 2023. Players like Swiatek, Sabalenka, Rybakina, Jabeur, and many others were involved in this event. Yet there was one player who truly dominated, as she tends to do on the red clay courts. That player was none other than the world number one, Iga Swiatek, who won the tournament yesterday.
But since she is the world number one, this tournament victory hasn’t influenced her ranking whatsoever. In contrast, there have been some big shifts for others who were involved in the event in Stuttgart. So without further ado, let me give you the most recent WTA rankings changes as of April 24th, 2023.
WTA Rankings Updates – Week Commencing April 24th
Contents
The previous seven days have been a bit of a unique period for the current clay court swing. In many other weeks, there are overlapping tournaments, with top players involved in events all over Europe. But for this specific week, there was just one tournament – Stuttgart. Therefore, the results in Stuttgart have had the biggest impact on the WTA rankings this week for the very top players.
However, due to the drought in events for the previous week, those who weren’t involved in Stuttgart switched to ITF tournaments to keep competing. All of this is explained throughout the following sections.
Whenever we discuss the biggest climbers, I try to keep the focus on the top 100 WTA players to keep things as relevant as possible. Yet for the official ‘climber of the week’ for the previous seven days, I’ve had to look one position out of the top 100. That’s because the player with the biggest rankings jump this week is Emma Navarro of the USA. She has climbed 20 positions to reach a new ranking of 101, but she wasn’t involved in the Stuttgart event as her ranking was too low. Instead, she played in an ITF event in the USA, which she ultimately won by beating a fellow American in the final.
Since we’re on that subject, the player she beat in the final was Peyton Stearns, who is also one of the key risers of the week. By reaching the final of the ITF in North America last week, she has jumped 17 positions to a new ranking of 72. So clearly, American tennis is moving in the right direction in the 2023 season. Yet in the middle of these two players in terms of rankings hikes is Rebeka Masarova. She chose to also play an ITF in Portugal since her ranking wasn’t high enough for Stuttgart.
Masarova made the final of this tournament, losing to Danka Kovinic in a pretty straightforward game. Yet due to the performances of these two, Masarova has leaped up the rankings ladder by 19 spots to achieve a new ranking of 74. As for Kovinic, she’s jumped 15 places to a new position of 57.
The Week’s Biggest Fallers – Nightmare for Raducanu, Badosa, and Kontaveit
You’ll probably be quicker to recognize the names who are in the red this week compared to those who are in the green. As you can see, these three players have all been involved in major events in the past, and they’ve each been ranked pretty highly. But starting with the player who has suffered the biggest rankings slide, unfortunately, that goes to Anett Kontaveit. The Estonian player hasn’t competed since the WTA 500 event in Abu Dhabi back in February 2023. And since the WTA rankings can be unforgiving, her consistent absence from the tour has led to another slide of 18 spots to reach a new place of 87.
However, Emma Raducanu is not far behind at all. The former US Open champion had a bit of a howler in Stuttgart, losing quite convincingly to Ostapenko in the opening round. This resulted in a loss of points and a rankings drop of 17 positions, taking Raducanu down to 85 in the world. So clearly, these two players haven’t fared too well in the most recent WTA rankings update. Yet they are also joined by Paula Badosa, who has slipped 11 spots down to number 42 in the world.
This is somewhat unfortunate for the Spaniard, as she actually produced some great performances in Stuttgart and made the quarter-finals. But since she had points to defend from 2022, she’s actually dropped points, despite the strong result in Stuttgart.
Top Rankings Stories – Raducanu Facing Top 100 Exit
It’s been tough to select a top story this week since just one top-level event was contested. However, based on all of the news stories surrounding the WTA rankings, I’ve opted to focus on Raducanu’s ranking slide. I’ve chosen this one for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the first-round exit in Stuttgart was so convincing that it almost seemed like Raducanu didn’t have the internal belief to challenge the top players. This is surprising considering that she is already a Grand Slam champion at such a young age.
Secondly, the subsequent rankings drop takes her ever closer to an exit from the top 100 in the WTA rankings. Bear in mind that Raducanu has been ranked number 10 in the world previously, which was largely fueled by her success at the US Open in 2021. And with many top-level competitions right around the corner, she will need to raise her game to remain in the top 100. Not only that, but this is something that she must do to keep getting directly into the main draw of events at the highest level.
But for this specific week in the Madrid Open, the prospect of facing Iga Swiatek in the second round is the worst scenario possible.
Subscribe to Punditfeed on Google News for all the latest updates from the world of sports!
