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The Asian swing is heating up as we head deeper into the WTA China Open – the only 1000-level tournament hosted on this continent on the WTA Tour. And for this week’s WTA rankings updates, the changes are somewhat unique. That’s because the new rankings have been released while we are in the midst of a huge tournament, which doesn’t always occur. However, the results in the WTA China Open haven’t impacted the WTA rankings updates for October 2nd, 2023. Instead, it’s the results from the WTA 500 event in Tokyo combined with the results from the WTA 250 event in Ningbo.
Both of these tournaments were hard-court events that attracted some pretty big names, as we are currently witnessing on the ATP Tour with the strength of the ATP China Open. Then again, the approach of the WTA Finals for 2023 is stimulating the game’s greatest to come and challenge for these titles. As for the respective performances from the two events that were played last week and the impact on the WTA rankings, that’s precisely what I will cover below.
WTA rankings updates – week commencing October 2nd
Contents
Through the remaining sections, I’ve maintained a heavy focus on the WTA top 100, as I tend to do with each of the WTA rankings updates that I publish on a weekly basis. Of course, these updates include players who have moved up and down the ladder, and both must be covered to share a comprehensive view of the rankings as things stand. But first and foremost, I will get the ball rolling by identifying the week’s top performers in terms of their rankings increases.
The week’s biggest climbers
For the previous seven days, there are three players who have outshined the rest concerning their jump in the WTA rankings. In fact, two of these players have posted a rankings rise of more than 20 positions, while the third has posted a leap of 19 positions. These are considerable steps forward for any individual, and I will now share specifics for each.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova: +24
This week’s biggest climber is Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who has managed to climb the WTA rankings by 24 places. Of course, this is the biggest leap of any other player ranked inside the top 100. But how did she achieve such an impressive leap? Well, this was achieved by her deep draw run in the Tokyo Open. Pavlyunchenkova made it all the way through to the semi-finals as an unseeded player before she was beaten by Kudermetova – the ultimate winner of the tournament. As a result, she is now ranked 62.
Diana Shnaider: +22
The second-highest climber of the week is the 19-year-old, Diana Shnaider. She enjoyed a phenomenal run in the Ningbo Open, making it all the way to the finals and beating some top players along the way. Most impressive, she took out the second seed, Petra Kvitova, in the quarter-finals before going on to lose to Ons Jabeur in the final. And thanks to the points she picked up, she’s jumped 22 places to number 63.
Linda Fruhvirtova: +19
Last but not least, we have the youngest of the three players who creeps in at number three regarding the week’s biggest climbers. Linda Fruhvirtova, as an 18-year-old, made it through to the semi-finals of the Ningbo Open before she lost to the second biggest climber of the week, Diana Shnaider. Nevertheless, this was one of her best career performances on the WTA Tour, and she has officially entered the top 100 by landing a ranking of 98.
The week’s biggest fallers
With each passing week on the WTA Tour, there are players who rejoice and players who will feel disappointed with the rankings updates. It’s the latter that I will now focus on in this section, and all three of the following players have dropped in the rankings by double digits. Let me get specific on who these players are and how this has occurred now.
Julia Grabher: -17
Julia Grabher has remained absent from the WTA Tour for quite a while now. And naturally, her ranking has started to suffer heavily as a result of missed competitions. This means that her ranking hasn’t slipped due to surprise losses in tournaments. Instead, she’s dropped to 91 in the world by simply not competing in the tournaments in Asia.
Mayar Sherif: -16
After losing in the first round of the Guadalajara Open a couple of weeks back, Sherif has also taken a leave of absence from the WTA Tour. She didn’t compete in the two tournaments that took place last week, and this has had a direct impact on her WTA ranking. As you can see, Sherif has slipped 16 places this week, taking her down to 50.
Ana Bogdan: -10
The drop in ranking hasn’t been as severe for Ana Bogdan as it has been for the previous two players, but it’s still been a double-digit slide for Bogdan this week. However, her rankings drop of 10 places shows how ruthless the WTA Tour can be sometimes. I say that because Bogdan won a WTA 125 event in Italy a little more than a week ago, which put her in the green. But instantly, by failing to play an event the following week, she has dropped 10 positions down to 71.
Top WTA rankings story – First hard-court title for Ons Jabeur
Ons Jabeur is one of the most loved players on the WTA Tour. She’s got a magnetic personality, and most tennis fans are rooting for her when she is competing – no matter where she is in the world. And last week, Jabeur tasted her very first success in a hard court event. Specifically, Ons Jabeur won the tournament in Ningbo over the weekend, beating Diana Shnaider in the finals with the loss of just three games. As a reminder, this was a WTA 250 tournament, and the win has helped Ons Jabeur’s chances of qualifying for the WTA Finals at the end of the month.
With this said, Ons Jabeur wasn’t even going to be playing in this event. But after she took an early exit in the Guadalajara Open, she managed to sneak in as a wildcard, and it clearly turned out to be a great move for the 29-year-old from Tunisia.
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