Season ends with Czechs winning Fed Cup

In the last week of the 2014 season, the Fed Cup final was played, along with two WTA-challengers and one significant ITF-tournament.

At the Fed Cup-final, the Czechs beat the Germans comprehensively, going ahead 3-0 in the singles and only forfeiting the inconsequential doubles match: 3-1. First, Petra Kvitova beat Andrea Petkovic, followed by Angelique Kerber being beaten twice, first by Lucie Safarova and then by Kvitova the next day. The Czechs have won the title three times in four years now. Rating-wise, Kvitova and Safarova took 27 and 24 points, respectively. Kvitova ends the year at #3, while Safarova finishes at #10. For Safarova, this is her first Top 10-listing, as for Kvitova this equals her highest ranking thus far.

In Limoges, the WTA-challenger was won by Tereza Smitkova, who beat Kristina Mladenovic in the final, 7-6 7-5. Smitkova thus ends her breakthrough year with her best result since reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon. Smitkova gained 80 points in the process and climbs to #74 in the ranking. The other major climber in Limoges was Oceane Dodin, a young talented player who reached the semifinal with three straight-set victories. Dodin received 65 points for it, and has climbed to #194 in the rankings.

At the other challenger in Taipei, Vitalia Diatchenko won after beating Chan Yung-Jan after a comeback: 1-6 6-2 6-4. For Diatchenko, it signified a return to at least the level she had before her knee injury. She gained 88 points, reaching a rating of 4664, where before her lay-off of over a year she had a rating of 4669. Diatchenko is now ranked #183. Honorable mention goes to Ana Bogdan, who reached the semifinal and gained 45 points. Bogdan is now ranked #167.

On the ITF-circuit, the tournament at Captiva Island, Florida was processed. This tournament was won by Edina Gallovits-Hall, who has also just returned from an injury. Gallovits-Hall beat Petra Martic in the final, 6-2 6-2. Gallovts-Hall gained 75 points for this victory, while Martic gained just 12. Gallovits-Hall has climbed to #304. A new rating was acquired by Jennifer Brady, who reached the semifinal to add 47 points to it. Brady is ranked #284 in the end-of-year ranking.

The end-of-season summaries and progress ranking will follow next weekend.

The complete ranking list as of November 10, 2014

Petkovic beats Pennetta in Sofia final

In this week's year-end Tournament of Champions, played in Sofia for the third straight year, it was Andrea Petkovic who prevailed. Despite losing her first round-robin match against Carla Suarez Navarro, she made it to the semifinal, beat Garbine Muguruza and finally overcame Flavia Pennetta in the final, 1-6 6-4 6-3. In the end, it was Pennetta who received the most rating points (+50), while Petkovic gained 46 points. Ekaterina Makarova lost 55 points in 2 matches, before retiring with a back injury. Pennetta, Muguruza and Petkovic all entered the top 20. For Muguruza, it's the first time she's been ranked that high.

In Ningbo, a 125K challenger was played this week, and the surprising winner was Magda Linette, who beat Wang Qiang in the final, 3-6 7-5 6-1. Linette's rating gain accumulated to 77 points, while Wang Qiang received 49 points. For Linette, it was a surprisingly good end to an up-and-down season with little progress. She now climbs to #180 in the rankings, her highest ranking yet. Wang Qiang climbs to #134. Ningbo also delivered a first rating to China's Wang Yan, who reached the quarterfinal and gained 36 points. Wang Yan's first ranking is #325.

Finally, on the ITF-circuit, the tournament in Nantes was won by Katerina Siniakova. She beat Ons Jabeur in the final, 7-5 6-2. Both players gained a substantial number of rating points: +49 and +43, respectively. In the new rankings, Siniakova can be found at #105 and Jabeur climbs to #151.

The complete ranking list as of November 2, 2014

Serena Williams shows great resilience at WTA-finals in Singapore

It was never easy, but in the end Serena Williams raised her level to beat Simona Halep in the final of the WTA-championships in Singapore. The scoreline, 6-3 6-0, indicates a very dominant performance, but the start of the match was not much different from the earlier round-robin match, that Halep had won 6-0 6-2. Halep went up a break first, and they stayed close up to 4-3, but then Serena made one more mental push to close out the first set and run away with the second. Williams thus won her third WTA-finals title of her career.

Over the entire tournament, it was Caroline Wozniacki who accumulated the most points, at +73. Wozniacki had won all of her round-robin matches, and just lost to Serena Williams in the semifinal in a third set tiebreak. Halep gained 66 points, mostly from her round-robin victory over Williams, but notably also from a dominant semifinal against Agnieszka Radwanska. Williams finished the tournament with +11 rating points, having had a negative scoreline up to the final. The biggest point deficits were accumulated by Eugenie Bouchard (-68) and Maria Sharapova (-46).

In the new ranking, Wozniacki moves from #5 to #3, passing Ivanovic and Kvitova. Halep stays at #6, but closes in on the Top 5, while Radwanska drops from #7 to #8.

On the ITF-circuit, the 100K-tournament at Poitiers was played, and it was eventually won by Timea Babos. She beat newcomer Oceane Dodin in a close final: 6-3 4-6 7-5. Babos gained 34 points, while Dodin conquered 65 points. With this result, Babos enters the Top 100 at #98. Dodin gets her first rating and can be found at #245 in the rankings.

The complete ranking list as of October 26, 2014

Beck wins first title in Luxembourg

This week in Luxembourg, it was Annika Beck who won a WTA-tournament for the first time. Having reached the final here last year, this time she made it all the way by beating Barbora Zahlavova Strycova in a competitive final, 6-2 6-1. Beck was very impressive throughout the tournament, not losing a set along the way, which gave her a rating boost of no less than 129 points. She rises in the rankings from #94 to #61. There was another surprise in Luxembourg, being the sudden arrival of qualifier Denisa Allertova, who reached the semifinal. Allertova won 63 points and moves up to #178 in the ranking. Zahlavova Strycova gained 29 rating points and moves to #31 in this week's rankings.

In Moscow, a premier tournament was played this week, and it was won by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. She beat Irina-Camelia Begu in the final, 6-4 5-7 6-1. For Pavlyuchenkova, it's her second title in 2014 after Paris. She gains 51 rating points this week and moves up to #33 in the rankings. For Begu, it was her first premier final and, having beaten Makarova and Safarova, she gained 56 points and climbs to #65 in the rankings. The most points were gained by Vitalia Diatchenko and Katerina Siniakova: both gained 70 points for reaching the quarterfinal and semifinal, respectively. Diatchenko is back on the rise after a long injury layoff, and is currently ranked #233. Siniakova moves to #129 after her performance this week.

On the ITF-circuit, one tournament has been processed: the 50K-tournament in Tampico, Mexico. This tournament was won by Mariana Duque-Marino, who beat An-Sophie Mestach in a close final, 3-6 6-1 7-6. Duque-Marino gains 26 points and is now ranked at #175.

The complete ranking list as of October 19, 2014

Stosur defends her title in Osaka

This week, three WTA-tournaments were played: Osaka, Linz and Tianjin.

At Osaka, Samantha Stosur took the title in a tight final against Zarina Diyas: 7-6 6-3. For Stosur, it was the second consecutive year she's won the title at Osaka. This year, it gave her 30 rating points, leading to a rise back into the Top 10 at #10. Diyas gained 54 points and is now positioned at #59. The other positive surprise this week was Luksika Kumkhum, who gained 47 points after having reached the semifinal. Kumkhum is now found at #145 in the rankings, up from #163 last week.

In Linz, Karolina Pliskova won her second title of the year by beating Camila Giorgi in a very tense final: 6-7 6-3 7-6. Pliskova gained 41 points and moves up to #19, her Top 20 debut. Giorgi received 72 points and climbs back up to #38 after having dropped out of the Top 50 recently. Other notable performances were shown by Anna-Lena Friedsam and Madison Brengle. Friedsam reached the semifinal and gained 60 points, moving up to #89 in the rankings. Brengle received a walkover from Ivanovic to get into the quarterfinal. Brengle gained 51 points this week, which gets her into the Top 100 at #90.

In Tianjin, the tournament was decided between two first-time finalists: Alison Riske and Belinda Bencic. Riske won, 6-3 6-4, and thus claimed her first WTA-title. Riske gained 84 points with her victory, moving her to #37 in the rankings. Bencic only gained 7 points and moves up 1 ranking spot to #40. Chinese talent Zheng Saisai reached the semifinal, for which she received 51 rating points. She climbs to #115, closing in on the Top 100.

The complete ranking list as of October 12, 2014

Sharapova stops Kvitova's run in Beijing

Petra Kvitova had a pretty good run again, after last week's win in Wuhan. In Beijing, she reached another final, but back-to-back titles were not to be. Maria Sharapova proved to be a stronger opponent today, eventually winning the final in three sets: 6-4 2-6 6-3. Actually, Sharapova had played an excellent tournament, with very dominant wins over Ana Ivanovic and Svetlana Kuznetsova and not losing any sets up to the final. Sharapova gained 98 points in the process, thereby fortifying her second position in the rankings. In fact, she is now closing in on Serena Williams at some speed, reducing the gap to #1 from 232 points to 86 points.

Most points were gained by Samantha Stosur, who also had a very good run to the semifinal, where she lost to Kvitova in a close three-setter. Stosur gained 105 points this week, moving her back up the rankings to #14 this week. Kvitova gained 27 points and stays at #3.

Honorable mentions from Beijing go to Roberta Vinci, who gained 75 points, having beaten Agnieszka Radwanska along the way, and Zhu Lin, who gained 64 points, mostly for reaching the second round with a win over Pavlyuchenkova. Vinci moves from #50 to #35 in the rankings, while Zhu Lin climbs from #240 to #193.

The complete ranking list as of October 5, 2014

Kvitova conquers Wuhan title

After a rematch of the Wimbledon final, Petra Kvitova conquered another title in Wuhan, having beaten Eugenie Bouchard 6-3 6-4. Again, she overpowered her opponent, and despite a tiny glitch when serving at 5-2 in the second set, it was a dominant performance from the Czech. Kvitova gained 54 rating points, while Bouchard gained 49. The more impressive performances came from lower-ranked players. The most points, 101, went to Timea Bacsinszky, who beat Ekaterina Makarova and Maria Sharapova, both in straight sets. Elina Svitolina received 95 points for reaching the semifinal, having beaten Sabine Lisicki and Angelique Kerber. Caroline Garcia gained 75 points.

In Las Vegas, the final is about to begin between Madison Brengle and Michelle Larcher de Brito. As for now, they've gained 25 and 34 points, respectively. Kateryna Bondarenko gained 28 points for reaching the semifinal.

In this week's ranking, Petra Kvitova climbs to #3, while Bouchard moves from #10 to #8. More spectacular are the jumps by Svitolina (#35 to #28) and Bacsinszky (#38 to #29). Also notable is the jump from #28 to #21 by Karolina Pliskova, who gained 54 points at Wuhan.

The complete ranking list as of September 28, 2014

Ivanovic wins fourth title of the year in Tokyo

Ana Ivanovic's season continues on a high note, as she conquered her fourth title of 2014 in Tokyo this week without dropping a set. In the final, the in-form Caroline Wozniacki was her latest victim: 6-2 7-6. Ivanovic gained a respectable 65 points for her performance, leading to a jump to #3 in this week's ranking. Wozniacki dropped from #3 to #4, having lost 19 points this week and being overtaken by her opponent. Garbine Muguruza gained 48 points after reaching the semifinal.

The second tournament of the week was played in Seoul, where Karolina Pliskova won the title. She beat Varvara Lepchenko in the final, 6-3 6-7 6-2. The most rating points were won by Christina McHale, who gained 49 points for reaching the semifinal. Pliskova received 40 points and moves into the top 30 for the first time, at #28. McHale returns to the top 50, at #47. Lepchenko gained 27 points and moves to #27.

Meanwhile, Monica Niculescu won the tournament in Guangzhou by beating Alizé Cornet in the final, 6-4 6-0. A dominant performance by Niculescu led to a rating gain of 97 points and a ranking jump from #55 to #32. The tournament was marked by a number of surprisingly good performances by Chinese players. Wang Yafan reached the semifinal, gaining her 69 points. Wang is ranked #261 this week. Zhang Kai-Lin reached the quarterfinal and gained 50 points, for a #191 ranking (after being #233 last week).

Finally, in Albuquerque, Anna Tatishvili won the 75K ITF-tournament by beating Irina Falconi in the final, 6-2 6-4. This resulted in a rating gain of 38 points for Tatishvili, and 26 for Falconi. This week's ranking reflects the standings after the semifinal, however, because the final was finished later than the start of next week's big tournament. The difference is 14 points (taken by Tatishvili off Falconi in the final).

The complete ranking list as of September 21, 2014

Lucic-Baroni defeats Venus Williams in Quebec final

Mirjana Lucic-Baroni's surprise run to the fourth round at the US Open was no incident. In Quebec City, she followed it up with a run to the title, beating Venus Williams in the final, 6-4 6-3. For Lucic-Baroni, it is her first WTA-title since April 1998, when she was 16 years old. In Quebec, she added 80 points to her rating, leading to a jump up the rankings to #44. Venus Williams lost 41 rating points over the tournament, of which 30 points went to Lucic-Baroni. Venus drops to #13 in the ranking.

In Hong Kong, the favorite Sabine Lisicki won the title by beating Karolina Pliskova in the final, 7-5 6-3. Pliskova was the second highest ranked player at the Hong Kong tournament (and third seed by the WTA). Lisicki gained 45 points this week, where Pliskova gathered 27 points. Alison Van Uytvanck received 53 points by reaching her first semifinal. In this week's ranking, Lisicki climbs to #21, Karolina Pliskova is ranked at #32 and Van Uytvanck reaches #109.

Finally, at Tashkent, Karin Knapp conquered the title by beating last year's winner Bojana Jovanovski in the final, 6-2 7-6. Knapp received 80 points for her victory, whereas Jovanovski gained just 2 points. Nigina Abduraimova reached the semifinal and for that, she was rewarded with 63 rating points. Abduraimova moves to #245 this week, where Knapp and Jovanovski are now ranked at #64 and #88, respectively.

The complete ranking list as of September 14, 2014

Serena wins 18th Grand Slam in New York

The 2014 US Open had its share of surprises, but in the end it was the World Number One who won the title in style. Serena Williams, in great physical shape, dominated the tournament with her unique combination of power, stability and, when necessary, speed. In the final against Caroline Wozniacki, she wasn't flawless - her serve was broken twice in the first set - but her dominance in both short and long rallies resulted in a straightforward victory: 6-3 6-3. Over the tournament, Williams didn't lose a set. The 2014 US Open title is Serena's 18th Grand Slam title, with which she equals the performance of Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert.

Rating-wise, Williams won 52 points at the US Open and extends her lead to 235 points. Four players gained over 100 points. The first was Peng Shuai, who ended a spectacular run to the semifinal having to retire during her match with Wozniacki. This run earned her 171 points. The others were Aleksandra Krunic (+155), Belinda Bencic (+132) and Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (+121). Wozniacki gained a respectable 75 points, and climbs to #3 in the new ranking. The former #3, Simona Halep, lost 79 points, partly to newcomer Danielle Collins (to whom she forfeited a set) and mostly to Lucic-Baroni, to whom she lost in straight sets. Halep is now ranked #8. Also notable is the top 10 debut of semifinalist Ekaterina Makarova, who has gained 84 points to reach #9 this week.

The new rankings show a few spectacular rises: Peng Shuai moving from #41 to #21, Bencic moving from #76 to #45, Lucic-Baroni climbing from #96 to #65 and Krunic jumping from #157 to #99 (a top 100 debut). Two wildcards received a first rating: the aforementioned Collins debuts at #248, while Catherine Bellis, who beat Dominika Cibulkova in the first round, debuts at #211.

During the second week of the US Open, the inaugural WTA 125K-tournament in Suzhou was played as well. Here, Anna-Lena Friedsam took away the title by beating Duan Ying-Ying in the final, 6-1 6-3. Friedsam gained 71 rating points, moving to #134 in the ranking. Misa Eguchi continues her fast rise with another 36 points gained. Eguchi is now ranked #186, having started near the bottom at the beginning of the year.

The complete ranking list as of September 8, 2014

Kvitova conquers New Haven

The last of the preparatory tournaments for the US Open was played this week in New Haven. With Simona Halep, Petra Kvitova and Caroline Wozniacki as main attractions, it was a strongly occupied tournament. Eventually, with Halep and Wozniacki going out early, it was Petra Kvitova who ran away with the title without losing a set. In the final, she beat Magdalena Rybarikova - who had taken out Halep - by the scoreline of 6-4 6-2.

Rating-wise, it was Rybarikova who made the most progress, at +73 points. Kvitova gained 53 points, closely followed by two more players: Camila Giorgi (+52) and Alison Riske (+50). Kvitova rises to #4 in the ranking, overtaking Halep, with Ana Ivanovic moving to #3 without playing. Rybarikova moves from #66 to #54 in the ranking. Giorgi can be found at #39, while Riske finds herself at #51 this week.

The other major event this week was the qualifying tournament for the US Open. Here, the most impressive performance was displayed by Françoise Abanda, who won 83 points after only losing 6 games in 3 matches. Other performances of note were made by Aliaksandra Sasnovich (+61) and the lowest ranked qualifier Paula Kania (+41).

The complete ranking list as of August 23, 2014

Serena wins Cincinnati for the first time

At this week's Premier-tournament in Cincinnati, Serena Williams conquered her fifth title of the year by beating Ana Ivanovic in straight sets: 6-4 6-1. Williams had not won this tournament before in the five previous times she attended, but this time, she prevailed. Williams conquered 53 rating points in the process, extending her lead as the #1-ranked player to 171 points. Ivanovic gained 33 points for reaching the final.

There were other players who gained more rating points than Serena Williams. The most points, 79, were won by Elina Svitolina, who reached the quarterfinal after knocking out Petra Kvitova in the second round. Semifinalist Caroline Wozniacki won 67 points - she eventually lost in three sets to Serena in the semifinal. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova won 57 points, mostly by knocking out Dominika Cibulkova in the first round.

The qualifying tournament in New Haven saw a notable performance from Silvia Soler-Espinosa, who gained 43 points and qualified for the main draw, along with five other players.

In this week's ranking, the most notable development is Petra Kvitova dropping from #4 to #8. Ivanovic has taken over the #4 spot from the Czech. Elina Svitolina reached the Top 30: she is now ranked #29, where last week she was ranked #41. The highest ranked New Haven-qualifier is Timea Bacsinszky, who gained 37 points and is now ranked #39 - her Top 40-debut. She is certainly one to watch in the coming months.

The complete ranking list as of August 17, 2014

Radwanska defeats Venus Williams in Montréal final

At the Rogers Cup in Montréal, Agnieszka Radwanska won her first title of 2014 by beating Venus Williams in the final, 6-4 6-2. It was quite a comprehensive victory for Radwanska: she let Williams make the errors by keeping the ball in play and bringing everything back. Coupled with victories against Lisicki, Azarenka and Makarova in the earlier rounds, opponents against whom she'd lost quite a few matches, Radwanska eventually collected 99 rating points. Venus Williams gained 45 points with her run, which included a semifinal victory against her sister Serena.

Other memorable performances came from Shelby Rogers (+58), Coco Vandeweghe (+56) and Caroline Wozniacki (+55). Rogers beat Eugenie Bouchard in the second round by the impressive scoreline of 6-0 2-6 6-0. Vandeweghe defeated Ivanovic and Jankovic, and Wozniacki lost only 6 games in the first three rounds, losing against Serena Williams in the quarterfinal in a close three-setter.

At the top, there were a few notable movers in the ranking: Radwanska climbs to #7, Wozniacki moves from 11 to 8, and Venus Williams returns to #10. Bouchard dropped to #12.

The complete ranking list as of August 10, 2014

Recovered Serena Williams wins in Stanford

This week in Stanford, Serena Williams showed she's gradually returning to her best form after a period of struggles with her health, which had led to early exits at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. In California, she showed no such troubles, although in the final she had to overcome fierce resistance from Angelique Kerber. Kerber took a 5-1 lead in the first set, but Williams rushed back and took the set in a tie-break. In the second set, Williams got the early break and finished with a second break of Kerber's serve, resulting in a 7-6 6-3 victory. Williams gained 21 rating points, while Kerber received 7 points for her performance. More points were acquired by Sachia Vickery (+61), Varvara Lepchenko (+48), Andrea Petkovic and Carol Zhao (both +23). For Vickery, it was her first quarterfinal at WTA-level. In the rankings, she climbs to #234. Carol Zhao received her first rating in Stanford, she's now ranked #111, mostly because of the strong field at this Premier tournament. Naomi Osaka also received her first rating after beating Sam Stosur, and she's now ranked #115.

The other WTA-tournament, in Washington DC, saw Svetlana Kuznetsova take her first title since 2010. Kuznetsova beat Kurumi Nara in a very tense final, 6-3 4-6 6-4. At 4-4 in the third set, Nara had break points in a very long game, but Kuznetsova eventually held serve, which proved decisive, with Nara being broken in the last game. It was Nara who gained the most points in DC, at 69. Kuznetsova won 42 points and climbs to #15 in the rankings. Honorable mention goes to Marina Erakovic (+55) and Vania King (+46). Alison Riske lost 39 points in the first round to newcomer Hiroko Kuwata. Kuwata enters the ranking at #205.

At the 100K ITF-tournament in Vancouver, Jarmila Gajdosova won the title by beating Lesia Tsurenko in the final, 3-6 6-2 7-6. Gajdosova and Tsurenko won 33 and 27 points, respectively. This was eclipsed by newcomer Asia Muhammad (+39) and Madison Brengle (+36). Muhammad enters the ranking at #340.

Finally, at the 50K-tournament in Wuhan, Wang Qiang beat Luksika Kumkhum comprehensively in the final: 6-2 6-2. Wang Qiang, ranked #156 this week, gained 42 points with her victory, the most of all participants. Newcomer Miyu Kato reached the semifinal and received 38 points for that. Kato enters the ranking at #341.

The complete ranking list as of August 4, 2014

Svitolina successfully defends Baku-title

Last year's Baku champion, Elena Svitolina, won another title here after beating Bojana Jovanovski in the final, 6-1 7-6. Svitolina wins 66 rating points with her title, and returns to the Top 50 with this result, at #45. Jovanovski didn't win or lose any rating points. Misa Eguchi surprised with a run to the quarterfinal and won 68 rating points. She climbs from #279 to #211.

In Nanchang, a WTA 125K-tournament took place - the first of this year. One of the favorites, Peng Shuai, won, although she had to overcome a tenacious opponent. Liu Fangzhou, an 18 year-old Chinese talent with a low rating, had beaten the other favorite Zheng Jie in the first round and made an impressive run to the final after that. Peng Shuai needed three sets to beat Liu Fangzhou: 6-2 3-6 6-3. Liu Fangzhou won 110 rating points, a new record for this type of tournament. Peng Shuai won just 8 rating points, whereas Zheng Jie lost 36 (another record). Liu Fangzhou moves from #335 to #313 in the ranking. Peng Shuai moves from #50 to #49, Zheng Jie drops from #48 to #58.

At the 50K ITF-tournament in Sobota (near Poznan in Poland), Kristina Kucova won the title by beating Sesil Karatantcheva in the final: 1-6 7-5 6-3. Kucova and Karatantcheva won 42 and 33 points, respectively. In Lexington, Ky., another 50K-tournament was played, this one won by Madison Brengle, who beat Nicole Gibbs in the final, 6-3 6-4. Brengle won 44 points, Gibbs 19.

The complete ranking list as of July 27, 2014

Wozniacki conquers Istanbul; Barthel wins Bastad

In Istanbul this week, Caroline Wozniacki won the final against Roberta Vinci, 6-1 6-1. It was her first tournament victory of 2014. For Vinci, it was her second final in a row, after Bucharest last week. Wozniacki gained 52 rating points with her victory, which is very good considering she was ranked quite far above the rest of the field. Vinci collected 35 rating points. Other notable movers were Kristina Mladenovic (+48) and Ana Konjuh (+38). Wozniacki climbs to #12 this week, while Vinci moves up to #28. Konjuh is now the 2nd fastest riser of 2014, after Belinda Bencic.

The other tournament this week was in Bastad, where all seeds went out early, and Mona Barthel eventually ran away with the title. She beat Chanelle Scheepers in the final, 6-3 7-6. Barthel gained 40 rating points and climbs to #41 in the rankings. Three players gained 34 points: Alexandra Panova, Laura Siegemund and Gabriela Dabrowski.

On the ITF-circuit, the 50K-tournament in Olomouc was processed. Here, Petra Cetkovska was victorious. She won the final against Denisa Allertova. Considering Cetkovska was quite far ahead of the rest of the field - none of her direct opponents came closer than 400 points behind - she performed as expected and gained 8 points for her victory. The three other semifinalists were all newcomers; apart from Allertova, Barbora Krejcikova and Lara Michel reached this stage. They all received a ranking for this performance. The newcomers are ranked #200, #256 and #325, respectively.

The complete ranking list as of July 20, 2014

Halep victorious in Bucharest

Even though there were no surprise winners this week in Bucharest and Bad Gastein, there were plenty of surprises along the way. In Bucharest, Simona Halep won by beating Roberta Vinci in the final, 6-1 6-3. Halep won just 1 rating point for winning the tournament, meaning she performed as expected. Considering her opponents all had at least 400 rating points less, Halep did well to hold on to her rating. Roberta Vinci gained 44 points for her run to the final, slightly compensating for a mediocre first half of the year in which she dropped down to #49 in the ranking. This week, she finds herself at #32. The surprise in Bucharest was Kristina Kucova, who reached the semifinal, where she lost to Vinci. Kucova gained 45 points - she had a good draw, otherwise she'd have gained more - and climbs from #190 to #169 in the ranking.

In Bad Gastein, Andrea Petkovic conquered the title. Her opponent in the final was an unexpected one: Shelby Rogers from the United States. Rogers, #165 in last week's ranking, had beaten Kristyna Pliskova in a first round marathon, and followed with straight set victories against Suarez Navarro, Giorgi and Errani, all very good clay court players. In the final, Petkovic was just too strong: 6-3 6-3. Rogers gained 119 points for her breakthrough run, while Petkovic gained 27 points. Another notable performance was made by Grace Min, another young rising American, who reached the semifinal and gained 68 rating points. Min debuts in the Top 100 at #94, while Rogers climbs to #113.

On the ITF-circuit, both last week's tournament in Contrexéville and this week's tournament in Biarritz have been processed. In both tournaments, Kaia Kanepi made the final. In Contrexéville, she lost the final to Irina-Camelia Begu, 6-3 6-4. Begu won 62 rating points in that tournament. In Biarritz, Kanepi won by beating Teliana Pereira 6-2 6-4. In Biarritz, the most points were gained by Evgeniya Rodina, who received 27 points. Rodina is slowly climbing back up the rankings after a long injury layoff, and she's now ranked #284.

The complete ranking list as of July 13, 2014

Impressive Kvitova blows Bouchard away in Wimbledon final

Petra Kvitova won her second Wimbledon title today in under an hour. Against Eugenie Bouchard, she kept playing at an extremely high level, hitting winners from everywhere. Powerful serves, quick returns, very deep groundstrokes and sharp angles, Kvitova gave it all to Bouchard to deal with, and it was simply too much: 6-3 6-0 was the final scoreline.

Over the entire tournament, Kvitova had lost just one set, and it came in a very close third round match against Venus Williams. Kvitova gains 171 rating points with her performance, and climbs from #12 to #4 in the ranking. Bouchard gained 99 points, and now finds herself at #8 in the ranking (from #16).

The other surprising player in this tournament was Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, who reached the quarterfinals, where she was beaten by Kvitova. Before that, Zahlavova Strycova had ousted Vesnina, Li Na and Wozniacki, all in straight sets. This run resulted in a rise by 146 points, leading to a climb up the rankings to #29. Li Na was the one losing the most points (-64) and she has dropped to #6 in the ranking.

Other honorable mentions go out to Lucie Safarova (+86), who reached the semifinal and climbs to #11, and Zarina Diyas (+97) and Tereza Smitkova (+84), two young players on the rise who entered the Top 100 after reaching the fourth round.

The complete ranking list as of July 5, 2014

Maiden titles for Keys and Vandeweghe

In the week before Wimbledon, two grass court tournaments have been played in Eastbourne and Den Bosch. Madison Keys prevailed in Eastbourne, capturing her first WTA-title against Angelique Kerber, with a scoreline of 6-3 3-6 7-5 in the final. Keys gained 103 rating points with her victory, resulting in a climb to a career-high #26 in the new ranking. Kerber took away 21 rating points, and finds herself at #11 in the ranking now, from #15 last week.

In Den Bosch, Coco Vandeweghe won the title by beating Zheng Jie in the final, 6-2 6-4, with an impressive display of serving. Vandeweghe gained 89 rating points, while Zheng acquired 85 points. Vandeweghe is now ranked at #36, a career-high, while Zheng climbs back to #54, which is about her usual level.

At Wimbledon's qualification tournament, the most points were gained by Ana Konjuh (+60) and Lesia Tsurenko (+57), while the biggest point losses went to Ksenia Pervak (-32) and Kiki Bertens (-31) who both went out early. The lowest ranked player to qualify was Paula Kania (+41), who now has a rating of 4550.

The complete ranking list as of June 21, 2014

First grass court title for Ivanovic

Ana Ivanovic won in Birmingham last week, resulting in her first grass court trophy. She beat Barbora Zahlavova Strycova in the final in straight sets: 6-3 6-2. The Czech runner-up gained the most ranking points, however, at 71 points. Honorable mention goes to Zhang Shuai, who made the semifinal and gained 60 rating points. Ivanovic, as the tournament favorite beforehand, gained 38 points, and she's closing in on the top 5 as a result.

In the rankings, Casey Dellacqua moved from #35 to #26 with a win of 50 points. Timea Babos enters the top 100 for the first time, with a gain of 52 rating points.

In the 50K ITF-tournament at Nottingham, Nottingham-2, Jarmila Gajdosova prevailed, beating Timea Bacsinszky in the final, 6-2 6-2. Gajdosova gained 46 points with her victory, and returns to the top 100, now ranked #97. Gajdosova is a former top 40 player, having been as high as #38 in 2012.

The complete ranking list as of June 15, 2014

Sharapova edges Halep for second Roland Garros title

In a tournament full of surprises, the numbers 3 (Sharapova) and 7 (Halep) of the previous ranking ended up in the final of Roland Garros. In a close final, with lots of shifts of momentum, Maria Sharapova prevailed: 6-4 6-7 6-4. Simona Halep had break points for going up 3-1 in the third, but didn't capitalize on them. From 4-4, Sharapova made the last 8 points of the match, resulting in her second title in Paris and her fifth Grand Slam-title overall.

In this week's ranking, Sharapova and Halep are ranked #2 and #3 respectively. Sharapova gained 40 points, while Halep gained 95 points, a difference that can mostly be ascribed to Halep not having lost any sets up to the final, while Sharapova had three close three-setters before the final. Serena Williams is still ranked #1, but lost 85 points due to a stunning 6-2 6-2 loss to Garbiñe Muguruza in the second round. Williams' lead has been reduced to 98 rating points, a difference that can easily be overcome in one big tournament such as Wimbledon.

It was Muguruza who gained the most points over the tournament, at 132, leading to a ranking jump from 37 to 23. She was closely followed by Ajla Tomljanovic, who gained 126 points, many of which were taken off Agnieszka Radwanska by a 6-4 6-4 win in the third round. Tomljanovic is now ranked ad #54. Li Na dropped 60 points by losing to Kristina Mladenovic in the first round. Li now finds herself at #4 in the rankings.

A few other notable ranking movers are: Stosur (18 to 12), Bouchard (20 to 13), Bertens (52 to 33), Larsson (89 to 70) and Parmentier (161 to 124).

During the second week of Roland Garros, two big ITF-tournaments were played. The 100K clay-tournament in Marseille was won by Alexandra Dulgheru, who beat Johanna Larsson in the final, 6-3 7-5. Dulgheru gains 53 points and moves up to #92 in the rankings. The 75K grass-tournament in Nottingham was won by Kristyna Pliskova. She beat Zarina Diyas in the final, 6-2 3-6 6-4. Pliskova gained 34 points for her tournament win. She's now ranked at #104.

The complete ranking list as of June 8, 2014

Bouchard and Puig win their first WTA-titles

In the last week of preparation for Roland Garros, the two lead-up tournaments in Nürnberg and Strasbourg both finished with a first-time winner taking away the title.

In Nürnberg, Eugenie Bouchard captured her first title. In the final, she beat Karolina Pliskova in three sets, after a mid-match comeback by the Czech: 6-2 4-6 6-3. Bouchard captured 55 rating points in this tournament, and returns to the Top 20 in the ranking this week. Pliskova accumulated 68 points in the end, and steadily climbs into the Top 50. Karin Knapp, who was down at the low end of the progress list, reached the semifinal in Nürnberg and won 53 points for it. She climbs from #90 to #74 in the ranking.

In Strasbourg, Monica Puig won her maiden WTA-title by beating Silvia Soler-Espinosa with a strong serving display: 6-4 6-3. It was the first WTA-final for both. Puig received 92 rating points and jumps to #38 in the ranking. Soler-Espinosa gained 68 points and almost reached the Top 100 - she is now ranked #103, having been at #130 last week. Bojana Jovanovski took over the bottom spot in the progress list from Urszula Radwanska, by losing in the first round to Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, 6-4 6-0. Jovanovski drops 6 places to #64.

In Roland Garros qualifying, the top 5 participants all qualified: Heather Watson, Aleksandra Wozniak, Kiki Bertens, Timea Bacsinszky and Ksenia Pervak. Bertens received a respectable 54 points, because of her dominant scorelines. Further down the ranking, three players received even more points for their qualification: Grace Min (+71), Tamira Paszek (+61) and Maryna Zanevska (+60). Laura Siegemund received her first rating for winning the first two rounds, before losing to Bacsinszky in the third round. Siegemund's first ranking is #200.

The complete ranking list as of May 24, 2014

Progress in 2014: two players ahead of the field

After the tournament in Rome, I have made a first update of the progress list for 2014, in order to analyze who have been the most improved players and whose levels have dropped from the end of last season.

At the top of the list, two players stand out: Belinda Bencic and Caroline Garcia. Bencic has risen by 396 points, from 4573 (#263) to 4969 (#80). She still has a long way to go to the top, but she's made considerable progress this year. Caroline Garcia has acquired a respectable 362 points, having started at 4831 (#125) and standing now at 5193 (#29). This run is especially impressive considering she was down to a rating of 4773 (#148) in late February. Her good run started with a semifinal in Acapulco, and in the meantime she took a set off the world #1 Serena Williams in Miami, has won her first tournament in Bogota and reached the quarterfinal of Madrid.

At the top of the list, a mixture of players from the top and bottom of the ranking table can be found. Dominika Cibulkova is the highest ranked player (#15) in the top 10 of the progress list, while #11 on the progress list, Misa Eguchi, is ranked quite low at #285. Eguchi has won a number of ITF-tournaments early in the season.

At the lower end of the list, we find the players who have performed the most below their level of last year. Lowest down we find Urszula Radwanska, who has lost 172 points this season, leading to a drop from #53 to #95 in the rankings. She was injured at the start of the season and has not yet picked up her old level. In the hard court tournaments, she has had a few bad draws, losing to Cibulkova and Ivanovic. On gravel, she has won just one match, a qualifing match in Rome against Zarina Diyas. Most painful were her two losses in Fed Cup-pay against Spain, for which her sister Agnieszka compensated entirely.

Just above Urszula Radwanska, we find Petra Martic and Sabine Lisicki, both of whom have not yet performed well this year. Also notable is the position of Serena Williams on the list, quite far down the progress ranking. Williams has lost a few matches and has given away a few walkovers this year, both of which have cost her a substantial number of points. Losing 144 points this year so far has not threatened her #1 ranking, as she had a 300 point lead at the start of the season.

The progress leaders of 2013, Eugenie Bouchard and Simona Halep, have consolidated their ratings, but not continued their rise up the rankings. Bouchard has gained just 24 points so far this year, and is ranked at #22 at the moment, having started the season at #28. Halep has lost a mere 8 ranking points, and is now ranked 7th, having been ranked 6th at the season's start.

The 2014 season progress list of May 18

Serena wins third title of the year in Rome

Serena Williams has won her 60th title of her career, and her third in 2014, in Rome this week. In the final she beat Sara Errani, 6-3 6-0. She's been in good form in Rome, with only Ana Ivanovic putting on some serious resistance in the semifinal (6-1 3-6 6-1). Williams gained 30 rating points with her victory. Over the entire tournament, Errani gained the most rating points, at 98, closely followed by Zhang Shuai, who gained 95 points. Varvara Lepchenko gained 75 points, while Ana Ivanovic climbed 58. Ivanovic finds herself in 5th place in the rankings this week. Sharapova has dropped back to #3 due to a straight set loss to Ivanovic.

In Prague, at the 100K ITF-tournament, the favorites went out quickly, with both Lucie Safarova and Klara Koukalova out in the first round. It turned out Koukalova lost to the eventual winner of the tournament, Heather Watson. Watson beat Anna-Karolina Schmiedlova in the final, 7-6 6-0. Watson gained 49 points in Prague, followed by Aleksandra Krunic (+33) and Timea Babos (+31). Schmiedlova is now ranked at #101, closing in on her Top 100 debut.

In Saint-Gaudens, Danka Kovinic won the final against Pauline Parmentier, 6-1 6-2. This title resulted in a rating gain of 59 points and a ranking of #156 (from #183 last week).

The complete ranking list as of May 18, 2014

Sharapova moves to 2nd place after victory in Madrid

At the Premier Mandatory clay court tournament in Madrid, Maria Sharapova was victorious for the first time. Having already survived a few tight three-setters against Christina McHale and Li Na, she overcame a one set deficit against Simona Halep in the final: 1-6 6-2 6-3. Sharapova won 58 rating points, which was enough to overtake Li Na and thus replace her as #2 in the ranking. Caroline Garcia and Simona Halep received even more points: 97 and 67 respectively. Halep climbed two spots to #6, while Garcia made another jump, from #47 to #30.

On the ITF-circuit, two strongly occupied tournaments were played, in Cagnes-sur-Mer, France and in Trnava, Slovakia. In Cagnes-sur-Mer, Sharon Fichman left with the title after comprehensively defeating Timea Bacsinszky in the final, 6-2 6-2. Fichman received 57 rating points, while Bacsinszky gained 38 points. Fichman has moved into the Top 100 for the first time, at #94. Bacsinszky, a former top-50 player, is steadily rising up the rankings after ankle surgery in 2012, and has reached #74 this week.

In Trnava, the final between Barbora Zahlavova Strycova and Anna-Karolina Schmiedlova was suspended on Sunday at 3-3 in the first set. It has not been included in this ranking list. For the rest of the tournament, Schmiedlova has gained 34 points, closely followed by Danka Kovinic (+31) and Aleksandra Krunic (+30). Zahlavova Strycova has gained 11 points for her run to the final. On Monday, the final was completed by a 6-4 6-2 victory for Schmiedlova, resulting in her taking 17 rating points off of Zahlavova Strycova, which will be reflected in next week's rankings.

The complete ranking list as of May 11, 2014

Suarez Navarro wins first title in Oeiras

This week, Carla Suarez Navarro conquered the title in Oeiras, the first WTA-title of her career. In her sixth WTA-final, she was finally victorious against Svetlana Kuznetsova: 6-4 3-6 6-4. Both finalists gained 59 rating points for their performances in Oeiras. Irina-Camelia Begu bettered that with a rating gain of 70 points, after reaching the semifinal.

In Gifu, Japan, the 75K ITF-tournament was won by Timea Babos, who beat Ekaterina Bychkova in the final: 6-1 6-2. Babos gained 52 rating points for her victory. The 50K-tournament at Indian Harbour Beach has only progressed to the semifinals at this time. The results up to the quarterfinals have been included in this ranking, with Anett Kontaveit leading the pack with a rating gain of 41 points. More on the conclusion of this tournament will follow next week.

Svetlana Kuznetsova returns to the top 20 this week: she climbs from #23 to #19. Irina-Camelia Begu returns to the top 100, at #99. Timea Babos climbs from #147 to #121.

The complete ranking list as of May 4, 2014

Sharapova wins again in Stuttgart

In Stuttgart, Maria Sharapova was victorious for the third time in a row. A three-set victory against Ana Ivanovic in the final, 3-6 6-4 6-1, brought Sharapova her first title of 2014. She gained 46 rating points, and consolidated her third position in the ranking with those. Ivanovic won 22 rating points and climbs to #7 in the rankings.

In Marrakech, two first-time finalists battled for the title. In the end, Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor prevailed against Romina Oprandi, winning the final 6-3 3-6 6-3. Torro-Flor won as much as 118 points with this tournament victory, leading to a jump in the rankings from #95 to #68. Especially impressive was her 6-0 6-3 victory over Garbiñe Muguruza in the semifinal.

At the 50K ITF-tournament in Seoul, Misaki Doi won the title by beating Misa Eguchi in the final, 6-1 7-6. Eguchi gained the most ranking points, 69, for she is still a relatively low-ranked upcoming player. Doi gained 44 points. In the rankings, Doi climbs from #154 to #133, while Eguchi ascends from #319 to #292.

Another 50K ITF-tournament took place in Charlottesville, Virginia, and it was won by young American Taylor Townsend. She beat Paraguayan Montserrat Gonzalez in the final, 6-2 6-3. Townsend gained 58 rating points and climbs to #153 in the rankings. Montserrat Gonzalez and Sanaz Marand both acquired a first rating in this tournament. They are ranked at #326 and #324 in their first ranking, respectively.

The complete ranking list as of April 27, 2014

Vekic outlasts Cibulkova in Kuala Lumpur

At Kuala Lumpur this week, Dominika Cibulkova headed a field where she was the heavy favorite, with her closest competitor over 500 rating points behind her. She did get to the final, but she lost it to 17-year-old Donna Vekic, who triumphed for the first time at a WTA-level tournament. Vekic won 5-7 7-5 7-6 in a match that lasted 2 hours and 51 minutes. Vekic gained 63 points and rises from #92 to #76 in this week's ranking. Cibulkova lost 37 rating points, and consequently drops out of the top 10 to #11. Magda Linette and Zarina Diyas made notable progress at +49 and +46, respectively, both having reached the quarterfinals.

In this weekend's Fed Cup-competition, the Czech Republic and Germany won the semifinals, with four players each gaining more than 20 points (Kerber, Kvitova, Petkovic and Safarova). The biggest rating gains could be found in the other play-off matches. Caroline Garcia gained 50 points by winning both her singles matches in the 3-2 victory of France against the USA. Sorana Cirstea accumulated 40 points with wins against Serbia's Ivanovic and Jovanovski. The biggest rating loss, at -50, went to Urszula Radwanska, who lost twice in Poland's match against Spain. However, her sister Agnieszka brought victory to the Poles by winning the other three matches, including the deciding doubles match.

The ITF boasted a 50K-tournament in Dothan, Alabama, which was won by Grace Min, who beat Victoria Duval in the final: 6-3 6-1. Min gained 44 rating points and rises to #117 (from #136). At the qualifying tournament in Stuttgart, Gioia Barbieri made the main draw, knocking out Tsvetana Pironkova for 27 points (a record for a qualifying match) and adding another 20 against Johanna Konta. Barbieri's now ranked #268.

The complete ranking list as of April 20, 2014

Garcia wins her first tournament in Bogota

At the high altitude tournament of Bogota this week, Caroline Garcia underlined her progress this year with her first winner's trophy. She beat Jelena Jankovic in the final, 6-3 6-4. Jankovic had been the red-hot tournament favorite, thus her runner-up position came with a loss of 43 points (of which 35 went to Garcia). Garcia ended up with a rating gain of 87 points, leading to a ranking climb to #62. Other notable performances came from Chanelle Scheepers, who reached the semifinal and gained 51 points, and Mariana Duque-Marino, who ousted Sloane Stephens in the first round and eventually reached the quarterfinal for a gain of 46 points.

At Katowice, it was Alizé Cornet who won the trophy, having edged Camila Giorgi in a very tight final: 7-6 5-7 7-5. Cornet had been close to winning at 5-3 in the second set, but she also had to face a match point for Giorgi at 4-5 in the third. Once she'd overcome that, she ran away with the last few games for the title. Cornet gains 24 points with her win, while Giorgi wins 66 points for her first WTA-final. Kristina Kucova gained 49 points for taking out Niculescu in the first round, 6-1 6-1, followed by a three set loss against Cornet.

In the new rankings, Cornet climbs one spot to #21, while Giorgi climbs to #32 (from 43). Jankovic drops to #11 (from 7). A first rating has been acquired by Pemra Ozgen of Turkey for qualifying for the main draw in Kuala Lumpur. She debuts at #249.

The complete ranking list as of April 13, 2014

Petkovic returns to the elite by winning Charleston

The green clay tournament in Charleston, South Carolina produced some special results this week. Andrea Petkovic won her first tournament since her injury troubles of 2012 and 2013, by beating Jana Cepelova in the final, 7-5 6-2. Cepelova had herself been the surprise winner over Serena Williams in the second round, a victory which alone earned her 48 rating points. In total Cepelova gained 99 points, while Petkovic won 83 rating points. The biggest rating gain, at 112 points, was acquired by 17-year-old Belinda Bencic, who reached her first semifinal. For regular followers of women's tennis, Bencic's rapid rise shouldn't come as a total surprise, especially since she's been so good as a junior, but I have to admit she is outperforming even my expectations. If I can make a prediction, I would expect Bencic to be around #25 by the end of the year - say: between #21 and #29.

In this week's rankings, Petkovic climbs to #20 (from #26), Cepelova ascends to #70 (from #93) and Bencic rises to #96 (from #149).

In Monterrey, Ana Ivanovic won her second title of 2014 by beating another surprise finalist, Jovana Jaksic, in straight sets: 6-2 6-1. Ivanovic gained 18 rating points and climbs back into the top 10 this week. Jaksic gained 85 rating points with her surprise run, and climbs to #164 in this week's ranking, up from #209.

This week's strongest occupied ITF-tournament was played in Edgbaston, England. It was won by Cagla Buyukakcay, who beat Pauline Parmentier in the final, 6-4 2-6 6-2. Buyukakcay gains 52 rating points, and she now finds herself at #198 in the rankings.

The complete ranking list as of April 7, 2014

For the seventh time, Serena Williams wins Miami

The premier mandatory tournament in Miami has been won by Serena Williams, who beat Li Na in the final, 7-5 6-1. Her victory was far from easy, with Li starting much better and moving ahead to a double break at 5-2, but Williams came alive from there, won five games in a row to take the first set, 7-5, and had no more problems in the second set. Over the course of the tournament, Williams gained 8 rating points, which seems modest, but considering she had lost 41 points after four rounds, it is actually pretty good. Li Na gained 9 points with her runner-up position.

The biggest climb was made by Caroline Garcia, who gained 97 points, partly by winning a set against Serena Williams. Coco Vandeweghe also made considerable progress: she gained 87 points, highlighted by a three set victory over Sam Stosur. Anett Kontaveit and Indy de Vroome have been included in the ranking for the first time, due to wildcard entries. Rebecca Peterson from Sweden also acquired a ranking by a withdrawal-victory against Mona Barthel. In the rankings, Dominika Cibulkova moved up to #9, her first top 10 position.

Three ITF-tournaments were processed parallel to Miami. During the first week, Innisbrook was won by Grace Min, who beat Nicole Gibbs in the final, 7-5 6-0. Min gained 34 points. Two new players acquired rankings: Gioia Barbieri and Louisa Chirico.

During the second week, Osprey and Croissy-Beaubourg were processed. Osprey was won by Anna-Karolina Schmiedlova, who beat Erakovic 6-2 6-3 in the final and gained 42 points. Croissy-Beaubourg was conquered by Claire Feuerstein, who beat Renata Voracova in the final, 6-2 4-6 6-4. Feuerstein won 55 rating points.

The complete ranking list as of March 30, 2014

Pennetta goes all the way in Indian Wells

At the fourteen-day tournament in Indian Wells, Flavia Pennetta won her biggest title yet, beating Agnieszka Radwanska in the final, 6-2 6-1, after having beaten top seed Li Na in the semifinal. Unfortunately for the spectators, Radwanska was hampered by a knee injury during the final, and was never able to make a real contest of it. This does not diminish Pennetta's performance, who had been playing very solidly over the entire tournament, and who had stayed fit despite having played several three set matches earlier on. Pennetta gains 117 rating points for her effort, and climbs to #10 in the rankings; her top 10 debut in my ranking system.

Other players who made significant progress at Indian Wells were Lauren Davis (+97), who beat Victoria Azarenka in the second round, and Aleksandra Wozniak (+80), who beat Lisicki and Pavlyuchenkova. Davis climbs to #61 in the rankings, Wozniak to #44. Azarenka gave away 58 points because of her loss, and drops to number 4 in this week's rankings.

Last week, the ITF-tournament in Preston, UK had a strong enough attendance to justify its processing in the rankings. This tournament was won by Kristyna Pliskova, who beat Cagla Buyukakcay in the final, 6-3 7-6. Pliskova and Buyukakcay gained 31 and 28 rating points, respectively. Kristyna is now ranked at #96, marking the first time both Pliskova sisters are ranked inside the top 100.

The complete ranking list as of March 16, 2014

Zakopalova gets revenge on Muguruza in Florianopolis

This week in Florianopolis, Klara Zakopalova reached her third final of 2014, and coincidentally she met Garbiñe Muguruza in the final, by whom she had been beaten in Hobart in January. This time, things looked to be heading the same way, with Muguruza leading 6-4, 5-2, but Zakopalova fought back, took the second set and ran away with the third: 4-6 7-5 6-0. Zakopalova gained 57 rating points for her tournament win, while Muguruza gained 21. In this week's ranking, Zakopalova has overtaken Muguruza, with these two ranked at #29 and #30.

In Acapulco, Dominika Cibulkova continued her very good start to 2014 with a tournament win, by beating Christina McHale in a very tense final, 7-6 4-6 6-4. Cibulkova receives 26 rating points for her performance, while McHale gains 55. Cibulkova has taken over the leading position in the seasonal rating progress ranking from Belinda Bencic. Semifinalist Caroline Garcia was the most surprising player this week; she gained 69 points at Acapulco. Garcia rises from #148 to #120 in the ranking.

The complete ranking list as of March 2, 2014

Venus Williams wins Dubai

Is it a surprise to find out that Venus Williams can still win big tournaments like Dubai? For one who has followed my rankings, it shouldn't be. Despite injury and illness problems over the past few years, Venus had never dropped below #12 in the ranking. This week she showed she is still a major contender on the tour, by beating five high level players in straight sets, topping it off with a 6-3 6-0 win over Alizé Cornet - who, coincidentally, had beaten Serena Williams in the semifinal. Venus gained 93 points with her win; Cornet topped that with +96. In this week's ranking, Venus can be found at #6 (coming from #10), and Cornet moves from #33 to #25.

At the new tournament in Rio de Janeiro, Kurumi Nara won the title by beating Klara Zakopalova in the final, 6-1 4-6 6-1. It is Nara's first WTA-title, and it gained her 87 rating points. Nara has been moving up the ranking quickly this season, and she is now positioned at #69 (from #89). In the seasonal ranking mover list, she moves to third place with 163 points (joint with Pironkova), behind Belinda Bencic and Dominika Cibulkova. Another player with a notable rating gain this week is Teliana Pereira, who earned 55 points for getting to the semifinal. Pereira moves from #171 to #154 in this week's ranking.

The complete ranking list as of February 23, 2014

Halep, on fire again, wins in Doha

Simona Halep has again picked up her level of the end of last season, resulting in a tournament win at the Premier 5 tournament in Doha, Qatar. She beat Angelique Kerber in the final, 6-2 6-3, in just over an hour. This tournament win gave Halep 108 extra rating points, and a rise back up to #6 in the ranking, where she was at the start of the season.

Angelique Kerber received 31 points and climbs from #7 to #5 in the ranking. Other notable climbers are Yanina Wickmayer (+80, from #76 to #60), Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (+63, from #100 to #82) and Petra Cetkovska (+59, from #44 to #34). Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova lost 56 points due to an early loss to Lucic-Baroni.

At the ITF-tournament in Midland, Michigan, Heather Watson captured the title by beating Ksenia Pervak in the final, 6-4 6-0. Watson gained 56 rating points, resulting in a climb to #51 in the rankings. Pervak received 34 points, moving from #79 to #73.

The complete ranking list as of February 16, 2014

First round Fed Cup completed - but not in Seville...

Last week was Fed Cup-week, with both World Groups in action, in addition to continental Group I matches and a few Group II and Group III contests being held. In the World Group, Germany had a dominant win over Slovakia (3-1), USA lost at home to Italy (1-3), and Australia beat a weakened Russian team (4-0). The Spain versus Czech Republic game couldn't be finished during the weekend due to rain in Seville, so not all games of that match have been processed in this week's ranking. The Czechs eventually beat the Spaniards on Monday (3-2). The biggest point gains went to the Italians Karin Knapp (+32) and Camila Giorgi (+29), followed by German Angelique Kerber (+23).

In World Group II, France had some trouble beating Switzerland (3-2), with Swiss junior Belinda Bencic winning her two singles matches comprehensively, for which she gained 68 rating points. Argentina beat Japan surprisingly easily (3-1), with Kurumi Nara forfeiting 46 points, of which 26 went to Maria Irigoyen. Paula Ormaechea won twice for Argentina and gained 30 points in the process.

In Group I Europe/Africa, the Netherlands and Romania booked spots for the World Group playoffs in April. Dutch players Kiki Bertens and Richel Hogenkamp won all of their matches and gained 61 and 56 points, respectively. For the Romanians, their result was more or less expected and the ratings of Simona Halep and Sorana Cirstea changed only marginally (-16 and +6 respectively). In Group I Asia, Thailand booked a playoff spot by beating Uzbekistan (2-1). Uzbekistan did well to get that far, which showed in a rating gain of 58 points for Sabina Sharipova. In Group I Americas, Brazil won a playoff spot, and Teliana Pereira gained 43 points in the process.

The complete ranking list as of February 9, 2014

Pavlyuchenkova wins first Premier title in Paris

At the indoor Open GDF Suez tournament in Paris, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova received her first Premier title after beating Sara Errani in three sets: 3-6 6-2 6-3. Her overall tournament performance gave her 69 extra rating points, resulting in a climb up the rankings from #28 to #23. Errani gained 13 points for her runner-up position. The most notable other ranking move is the loss of 35 rating points for Simona Halep, who lost in the first round to Kristina Mladenovic.

In Pattaya, Ekaterina Makarova won the title by beating Karolina Pliskova in the final, 6-3 7-6. Despite this tournament win, Makarova lost 10 rating points over the tournament. Having been the strongest player beforehand, according to the ratings, she lost several sets to weaker players, most notably a 0-6 second set against Andrea Hlavackova in the semifinal. Most of the rating points went to Hlavackova and Pliskova, +83 and +66 respectively. First seeded Sabine Lisicki lost 36 rating points, partly due to an unfortunate withdrawal.

The ITF-tournament in Burnie saw two new players contesting the final: Misa Eguchi beat Elizaveta Kulichkova in three sets, 4-6 6-2 6-3. Both received a start rating of 4363. Eguchi gained 88 points (a record for ITF-tournaments) and Kulichkova gained 51. Their first rankings are still at the far end of the ranking list, at #311 and #319, respectively. The strongest contenders, Chan Yung-Jan and Jarmila Gajdosova, did not get beyond the second round.

The complete ranking list as of February 2, 2014

Li Na wins second Grand Slam title in Melbourne

The 2014 Australian Open title has been won by Li Na, by beating surprise finalist Dominika Cibulkova in straight sets, 7-6 6-0. The first set was a tight affair, with Li taking an early 3-1 lead, Cibulkova clawing back to take a 5-4 lead and Li serving for the set at 6-5 but being broken back for a tie-break, which Li won. In the second set, Li Na played more confidently, reduced her number of errors and did not surrender any more games to Cibulkova. The Australian Open is her second major title, after 2011 Roland Garros. It was Li's third appearance in the Melbourne final, having been runner-up in 2011 and 2013.

Li gained 66 rating points during the tournament, further securing her second place in the rankings, and reducing the gap to #1 Serena Williams to around 200 points. Williams lost in the 4th round to Ana Ivanovic, which cost her 78 rating points. The most points were gained by Dominika Cibulkova, who received a record 230 points for playing six impeccable matches to get to the final. Along the way, she beat Maria Sharapova, Simona Halep and Agnieszka Radwanska with dominant play. Cibulkova climbs from #32 to #12 in the new rankings.

The other surprise run of this tournament was the 4th round appearance of Casey Dellacqua, who gained 116 rating points for it, climbing to #60 in the rankings. Notable rating gains were also made by Zarina Diyas (+98) and semifinalist Eugenie Bouchard (+81). Bouchard enters the Top 20 for the first time.

The complete ranking list as of January 25, 2014

Pironkova defies the odds with Sydney title

The story of this week is undoubtedly the surprise run of Tsvetana Pironkova at the premier tournament in Sydney. Having entered as a qualifier, she beat Sorana Cirstea, Varvara Lepchenko, Sara Errani, Petra Kvitova and Angelique Kerber, respectively, all of them in straight sets. In the final, she beat Kerber 6-4 6-4. Over these 5 rounds she gained a record number of 147 rating points, leading to a jump in the rankings to #43 (from #74). Other notable performances were those of Madison Keys (+44) and Bethanie Mattek-Sands (+38); the latter beat top seed Agnieszka Radwanska in the first round, who consequently lost 30 rating points. Simona Halep topped that, with a loss of 35 points due to a 6-1 6-4 loss to Keys.

In Hobart, Garbiñe Muguruza won her first title by beating Klara Zakopalova in the final, 6-4 6-0. This victory marked a successful comeback after ankle surgery last summer, Hobart being only her second tournament back on the tour. Muguruza gained 82 rating points, while Zakopalova gained 68. Muguruza climbs to #35 in the ranking, while Zakopalova can be found at #39.

Finally, this was the week of the Australian Open qualification, with a number of young talents getting through to the main draw and gaining a substantial number of rating points. Of these, Belinda Bencic was the most impressive, with a gain of 83 rating points, resulting in a jump from 252nd to 195th place in the rankings.

The complete ranking list as of January 11, 2014

Serena Williams beats Sharapova and Azarenka in Brisbane

This week, both Williams sisters reached the final of a WTA-tournament; Serena won in Brisbane, Venus lost to Ana Ivanovic in Auckland. Serena beat Victoria Azarenka in the final, 6-4 7-5, after having beaten another close rival, Maria Sharapova, in the semifinal. Serena gained 5 rating points with her tournament win. In Brisbane, the most rating points, 52, went to Stefanie Voegele, who made a surprise run to the quarterfinal (where she lost to Azarenka).

In Auckland, Ana Ivanovic had a very good week, beating Riske, Larsson, Nara and Flipkens before ousting Venus Williams in the final: 6-2 5-7 6-4. Ivanovic gained 46 points with her win, only eclipsed by Kurumi Nara, who earned 54 points, mostly with a shattering 6-0 6-1 victory over her compatriot Ayumi Morita. Nara is ranked inside the top 100 for the first time, at #97.

In Shenzhen, Li Na was a heavy favorite and she won the title, beating Peng Shuai in the final, 6-4 7-5. Her run to the final wasn't without difficulties however. She lost rating points in the first three rounds against Vera Zvonareva, Nadiya Kichenok and Monica Niculescu. Niculescu pushed Li to a third set in the quarterfinal. Li ended up losing 19 rating points over the entire tournament, but she kept her second place in the ranking. Zvonareva returns at #62 in the ranking after an absence of almost a year-and-a-half due to injury.

The complete ranking list as of January 5, 2014

Diatchenko returns with victory in Ankara

In the only sufficiently strongly occupied tournament this December, the 50K ITF-tournament in Ankara, Vitalia Diatchenko emerged as the winner after a very close final against Marta Sirotkina: 6-7 6-4 6-4. For Diatchenko, this was her first singles tournament after her return from a serious knee-injury. Having been off the tour for over a year, her rating had dropped to 4462, and this tournament victory adds 47 points to that. She returns in the ranking at #281.

The first seed, Alison Van Uytvanck, lost in the first round to Carina Witthoeft, which cost her 21 rating points. She drops 5 spots to #124 in this week's ranking.

The complete ranking list as of December 21, 2013

Kan wins in Sharm El Sheikh and earns her first ranking

This week, Victoria Kan from Russia won the 75K ITF-tournament in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. She beat Nastja Kolar in the final, 6-4 6-4. This result earned Kan her first rating and she took 57 points off of her opponents. She debuts in the current ranking at #215. One other player also earned her first rating: Yuliya Kalabina reached the semifinal and debuts at #295 in this week's ranking.

The red hot favorite for the title in Sharm El Sheikh, the #20-ranked Kaia Kanepi, lost in the second round and forfeited 21 rating points in the process, dropping to #24.

The complete ranking list as of November 24, 2013

Cepelova wins ITF-tournament in Dubai

In the first week of the off-season-period, the ITF-circuit continued as usual with a strongly occupied tournament in Dubai. It was won by Jana Cepelova, who beat Maria-Elena Camerin in the final, 6-1 6-2. Cepelova gained 40 points, climbing to #114 in the ranking. Camerin won 38 points, and finds herself at #165 in the new ranking.

Ana Konjuh, a 15-year-old talent from Croatia, acquired a rating by getting to the semifinal. She debuts at #288 in the new ranking.

The complete ranking list as of November 16, 2013