We are now deep into the clay court swing on the WTA Tour. And last week, the first of two 1000-level tournaments was played in Madrid. This was the one and only tournament played at the WTA level last week, so many of the rankings changes we see here have sprung directly from the results of that tournament. However, like most weeks, there were also a few ITF tournaments being played besides the Madrid Open. These events have also influenced the rankings lower down the ladder.
Yet towards the top of the tree, it’s all about the 2023 Madrid Open and what went down. Of course, I’ve got the WTA rankings updates that were released today – May 8th, 2023. And I shall be sharing the biggest movements with you right here, so let’s get the ball rolling right away.
WTA Rankings Updates – Week Commencing May 8th
The new rankings have been released just a few hours ago, and the top 100 makes for very intriguing reading indeed. As you probably know, Sabalenka won the Madrid Open, beating the world number one in the final in an epic match. Because of this, she has closed in on Iga Swiatek in terms of total points earned. But even with this win at the Madrid Open, there is still a gap of more than 1,500 points between the two.
So despite the win, the top two rankings positions haven’t changed. Yet if you look outside of the top 10, plenty of rankings changes have occurred. Let’s look at who has enjoyed this week more than others, first and foremost.
The Week’s Biggest Climbers – Sherif, Navarro, and Osorio Thrive
Starting with Mayar Sherif, she went into the Madrid Open as an unseeded player. However, this didn’t phase her, and she made it all the way to the quarter-finals before losing to the tournament winner, Aryna Sabalenka. En route to the quarter-finals, Sherif took down three seeds, including the number 5 seed, Garcia, which was a big victory. In reaching this round, she picked up enough points to secure a 16-place rise this week. This takes Sherif to number 43 in the WTA rankings, which is impressive.
Apart from Sherif, the young Colombian, Camila Osorio, also picked up big points at the Madrid Open. She got into the main draw thanks to a wildcard, but boy did she make the most of it! Osorio took down a qualifier followed by the number 32 seed before losing to Sabalenka in the third round. Since she was outside of the top 100 prior to the Madrid Open, she scooped up enough points to take her to a new ranking of number 100 in the world. This was a 15-place leap, and given her talent, I can’t help but feel that she will keep this momentum going.
While this was a great week for the two players mentioned previously, I must now mention the official ‘climber of the week’. As you can guess by process of elimination, it was Emma Navarro of the USA who has risen by the most spots this week. The 21-year-old jumped 18 positions up the WTA rankings ladder, taking her to 85 in the world. However, she didn’t play in the Madrid Open. Instead, she competed in a Challenger event in France – a tournament where she made the quarter-finals.
The Week’s Biggest Fallers – A Horror Show for Raducanu, Teichmann, and Anisimova
Unfortunately, in the sport of tennis, for there to be winners, there must also be those on the other side of the table. And the biggest fallers of the week is never a category that any player wants to find themselves in. However, it’s just part of the game, and there are three players who find themselves in trouble this week. As you can see, these players include Raducanu, Teichmann, and Anisimova. Yet it is Jil Teichmann who has fallen by the greatest number of places this week – 28, to be precise.
The Swiss player was seeded 25 at the Madrid Open, yet she lost her opening match to Tsurenko, which meant that she lost a ton of points. As a result, she has dropped to number 58 in the rankings, which is far from ideal ahead of the French Open. Then again, she’s not alone this week, for the second biggest rankings drop came for Britain’s Emma Raducanu. The former US Open champion withdrew prior to her opening match, taking her down 18 spots to 103 in the world. And since she has undergone surgery which will keep her sidelined for the summer, sadly, it’s going to get worse for Raducanu from here.
The final player who is in the red this week by the greatest figure this week is Anisimova. She got into the main draw of the Madrid Open due to her ranking, but she lost to a qualifier in the opening round. This is obviously a missed opportunity for her, and it takes her down 15 rankings positions to number 61. She will no doubt be hoping to reverse this momentum when the upcoming clay court tournaments are played.
Top Rankings Stories – Raducanu Exits the Top 100
It’s been a rough ride for Emma Raducanu over the last 12 months. In fact, she’s endured a ropey time on the WTA Tour pretty much since she won the US Open in 2021. This was a magnificent achievement, of course, yet Raducanu has struggled to find form since then. She’s also picked up injury after injury, and this all came to a head at the 2023 Madrid Open. After being entered into the main draw, Raducanu gave a less-than-friendly pre-tournament press conference, and it was obvious that something was wrong.
Shortly after that, Raducanu withdrew from the tournament due to injury, and she later announced that she would be having surgery. At the time of writing, she has had the surgery, but because of the Madrid Open withdrawal, she’s officially dropped out of the top 100. So not only will she miss the French Open, but it’s looking like she will miss the entire summer season – including Wimbledon!
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