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Some might say that it was a ‘quieter’ week on the WTA Tour for the period covering July 31st to August 6th. However, once you see these WTA rankings updates, you might think otherwise. Then again, I can’t disagree that in terms of the number of tournaments played, it was a quiet one. But since the two tournaments that were played included a 500 event known as the Citi Open and a 250 event known as the Prague Open, there was still plenty of tennis played. Because of that, and due to a few of the lower WTA events, the WTA rankings updates reflected here show plenty of movement.
As you might be aware, August 7th marks the beginning of a few other big moments on the WTA Tour. Iga Swiatek is moving into her 71st week as the world’s best player, Venus Williams is still going as one of the Canadian Open wildcards, and the 1000-level event known as the Montreal Open to some is kicking off too. So while the previous week was exciting enough, the upcoming week should be off the charts.
Anyway, you’ve come here seeking the WTA rankings updates as things stand on Monday, August 7th. So let’s get the ball rolling and take a look right now.
WTA Rankings Updates – Week Commencing August 7th
Contents
With the WTA rankings ladder, it’s always a bit of a bumpy ride from one week to the next. One week you might witness a player that is dazzling in shades of green, meaning they’ve leaped up the ladder massively. Yet this same player can find themselves tumbling down the ladder the next week. As we all know, it’s a ruthless and endless game, yet that’s what makes each of my WTA rankings updates fun.
On that note, based on numerous tournaments and performances last week, the green zone makes for quite an interesting read. So let me start with three players who have surged more than any others before looking at those who are in the red.
The Week’s Biggest Climbers
As referenced above, I’m focusing on three players for the week’s biggest climbers on the WTA Tour. That’s because there are three that stand head and shoulders above the rest in terms of their movement up the ladder. Full details for each of these players are outlined below.
Nao Hibino: +52
What an incredible week it was for Nao Hibino. She lost in the final round of qualifying at the Prague Open, only to find herself in the main draw as a ‘lucky loser’. Anyway, this lifeline gave her an opportunity to pick up some bonus points and hopefully, make her way up the ladder. Yet not many would have thought that she’d go on to win the tournament and move 52 positions up the WTA rankings as a result!
Of course, this is just huge, and such a leap takes her from 136 in the world to number 84 – a staggering achievement.
Tamara Korpatsch: +19
Following in the footsteps of Nao Hibino, only not to quite the same degree, we have Tamara Korpatsch. The 28-year-old German also competed in the Prague Open, and she went all the way through qualifying to make the semi-finals of the main draw. Once again, nobody would have expected this kind of tournament run. Furthermore, she beat two top 100 players en route to the semis, which is commendable, and it saw her jump from 99 to number 80 in the rankings.
Linda Noskova: +19
Last but not least, we have the youngest of all these players – Linda Noskova. This teenager has matched the 19-place rankings jump of Tamara Korpatsch this week, and such a leap takes her to number 52 in the WTA rankings. Interestingly, Noskova chose to compete in the Prague Open too, which means all these three players were in the same tournament. Yet Noskova made it through to the finals before she was ultimately beaten by Hibino in straight sets.
Needless to say, this was quite the week for both players.
The Week’s Biggest Fallers
Where there are winners, sadly, there also has to be losers in the sport of tennis. That’s just the way things go, and this brings me to the dreaded red zone concerning the WTA rankings updates for this week. Speaking of which, below, you’ll see four players that have moved the furthest down the ladder, and details for each are shared right here.
Shelby Rogers: -41
You wouldn’t want to be in Shelby Rogers’ shoes this week. After moving down the rankings by a simply catastrophic 41 positions, she is the biggest faller of the week by a country mile. However, she’s not experienced such a tumble by failing to perform in her chosen tournaments. Instead, she’s fallen victim to the 12-month rolling system, and she’s lost enough points to take her down to 93 in the rankings.
Xiyu Wang: -14
In the case of Xiyu Wang, who is the second biggest faller of the week, she did fail to defend her rankings points from this stage last year. Wang played in the Prague Open, yet she won just one match before she was taken out by Schmiedlova in three sets. Because of this, she has fallen 14 spots down to 95 in the world.
Paula Badosa & Ana Bogdan: -12
I’ve had to list two players for the third and final position of the red zone. Both Paula Badosa and Ana Bogdan have slid by 12 places down the WTA rankings this week. For Badosa, her nagging injury sustained at Wimbledon has kept her absent from the tour, and she’s dropped to 45 in the rankings as of this latest update. Yet for Bogdan, after retiring in her quarter-final match of the Ladies Open Lausanne just over a week ago, she’s tumbled to 59 in the rankings.
Top WTA Rankings Story – Nao Hibino Takes Title as Lucky Loser
Come on – I had to put this as the top story! It’s not often you see a lucky loser go deep in any main draw, let alone go all the way through and win the title. This is a truly remarkable achievement, and she deserves all the credit she gets. After winning the Prague Open last week, she now has three career titles to her name, yet there won’t be many weeks where she’s jumped 50+ positions in the WTA rankings. So this is a special moment in her career, and all I can say is well done Nao Hibino!
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