Season's end: United States defeat Belarus 3-2 in Fed Cup final

The 2017 season has ended with the United States winning the Fed Cup for the first time in seventeen years. The US defeated surprise finalist Belarus in a tense final, winning the final doubles match. Coco Vandeweghe had won both her singles matches, while Sloane Stephens lost both, against their Belarusan opponents Aryna Sabalenka and Aliaksandra Sasnovich. Rating-wise, Stephens was the only one losing points (-46, #28), with those points going to Sabalenka (+23, #83), Sasnovich (+16, #89) and Vandeweghe (+7, #10).

The WTA125-tournament in Hua Hin was won by Belinda Bencic, who is starting to pick up some form after returning from injury. Bencic defeated Hsieh Su-Wei in the final, 6-3 6-4. Bencic received 19 points for a ranking of #54, while the most points went to Hsieh Su-Wei (+41, #102), Vitalia Diatchenko (+37, #196) and Ksenia Lykina (+25, #405).

Another WTA125-tournament was played in Limoges, which was won by Monica Niculescu, who beat Antonia Lottner in the final, 6-4 6-2. Lottner gained the most rating points (+59, #157), followed by Niculescu (+50, #65), Conny Perrin (+44, #258) and Anna Blinkova (+32, #173). A ranking debut was earned by Olga Danilovic, a 16-year-old Serbian who enters the ranking at #357.

On the ITF-circuit, two more tournaments were processed. Carol Zhao won the 100K-tournament in Shenzhen by overcoming Liu Fangzhou, 7-5 6-2. Zhao gained 30 rating points leading to a season's end ranking of #143. Liu received just 8 points and ends the season at #211.

Finally, the tournament in Waco went to Taylor Townsend, who won her final against Ajla Tomljanovic in three sets, 6-3 2-6 6-2. The finalists also gained the most EPL-rating points: Tomljanovic (+48, #136), Townsend (+43, #97). Honorable mention goes to semifinalist Sofia Kenin (+26, #160) and quarterfinalist Ulrikke Eikeri (+26, #241). For Eikeri, this is her ranking debut, while she is also the first Norwegian player to receive a rating.

Goerges finishes season in Top 20 after victory at WTA Elite Trophy in Zhuhai

In the first week of November, the invitational tournament in Zhuhai - the WTA Elite Trophy - was contested by those that didn't make the WTA-Finals. Four groups of three played a round-robin, with Anastasija Sevastova, Ashleigh Barty, Julia Goerges and Coco Vandeweghe winning their groups and qualifying for the semifinals. Goerges beat Sevastova and Vandeweghe defeated Barty, both by the scoreline of 6-3 6-3. In the final, the in-form Goerges beat Vandeweghe comprehensively, 7-5 6-1, for a second tournament win in three weeks time. Goerges accumulated 73 rating points in Zhuhai, leading to a ranking jump to #13, her highest ranking yet and her first Top 20 season finish. Vandeweghe gained 17 rating points for a ranking of #12.

At the ITF-tournament in Nantes, a strongly occupied 25K-tournament, Kaia Kanepi took the title after beating Richel Hogenkamp in the final, 6-3 6-4. Kanepi gained 20 rating points for a ranking of #78, while Hogenkamp received 4 rating points for a ranking of #128. The most rating points went to newcomer Olga Ianchuk (+23, #278) and Diana Marcinkevica (+22, #318).

The 80K-tournament in Tyler was won by Kristie Ahn, who beat Danielle Rose Collins in the final, 6-4 6-4. Ahn gained 43 rating points for a rise to #143, whereas Collins gained the most points, +58, for a ranking of #329.

Wozniacki jumps to Number One after winning WTA-finals

Caroline Wozniacki appears to end the season as #1 in the EPL-rankings, after having delivered a stunning performance at the WTA-finals in Singapore. In each of her three round-robin matches, she had a 6-0 set, winning the first two matches and tightly losing the third to Caroline Garcia. In the semifinals, she ousted Karolina Pliskova in straight sets. Her opponent in the final was Venus Williams, whom she defeated 6-4 6-4. Wozniacki gained 118 rating points with her Singapore performance, which was enough to jump from #8 all the way to #1, passing Simona Halep, who lost 44 rating points. Barring a surprise result at the Fed Cup finals, Wozniacki will retain this position until the end of the season, two weeks from now. For Wozniacki it is her first #1 in the EPL-ranking, which officially started in November 2011.

With Wozniacki gathering so many points, there wasn't much left to gain for the others. Jelena Ostapenko gained 11 points, Venus Williams 2 and Karolina Pliskova 1, which meant Williams and Pliskova dropped one spot - having been passed by Wozniacki - and Ostapenko gained one spot, passing Coco Vandeweghe for #13. Last week's Top 4, Simona Halep, Elina Svitolina, Garbiñe Muguruza and Caroline Garcia, all lost points, losing a spot to Wozniacki; Garcia also dropped below Petra Kvitova, who didn't qualify for Singapore.

On the ITF-circuit, the 100K-tournament in Poitiers was won by Mihaela Buzarnescu, who gained 75 rating points - an impressive result for this type of tournament, where the record score is +91. In the final, Buzarnescu defeated Alison van Uytvanck, a steady Top 100 player, by the scoreline of 6-4 6-2. Buzarnescu's ranking has improved to #116 this week. Van Uytvanck received 10 points, resulting in a ranking of #62. Of the other players, Ivana Jorovic gained the most points, +27, for a ranking of #254.

At the 80K-tournament in Macon, Anna-Karolina Schmiedlova was victorious, having defeated Victoria Duval in the final, 6-4 6-1. Schmiedlova gained 35 EPL-points for a ranking of #131. The other major risers were Rebecca Peterson (+23, #133), finalist Duval (+22, #241) and Sesil Karatantcheva (+20, #190).

The 60K-tournament in Liuzhou was won by Wang Yafan, who beat top-seed Nao Hibino in the final after retirement: 3-6 6-4 3-3. Wang Yafan gained 24 rating points for a ranking of #134, while Hibino gained 31 points for a ranking of #135. The most rating points went to newcomer You Xiaodi, who reached the semifinal for a gain of 68 rating points. She debuts in the ranking at #381.

Goerges comfortably defeats Kasatkina in Moscow

For Julia Goerges, the tournament in Moscow brought her a third title, having won her last tournament at Stuttgart in 2011. In the Moscow final, she encountered Daria Kasatkina, whom she dismissed comfortably: 6-1 6-2. It earned Goerges 58 rating points, leading to a rise to #23 in the rankings. Kasatkina won 27 EPL-points and has climbed to #20 in the rankings. The most points went to semifinalist Natalia Vikhlyantseva, who accumulated 70 rating points. Her ranking has improved to #97. Newcomer Vera Lapko made it through qualifying, following it up with a run to the quarterfinal. Lapko gained 52 points from the main draw, and 28 points from the qualifying draw, for a debut ranking of #135.

The tournament in Luxembourg saw a first time WTA-title for Carina Witthoeft, who beat Monica Puig in the final 6-3 7-5. Witthoeft saw a very stable season rewarded with a first title, a gain of 71 rating points, a new high rating of 5035 and a new high ranking of #44. Monica Puig - who dedicated her performance to hurricane-devastated Puerto Rico - gained 53 points for a rise to #41. Another notable performance came from Pauline Parmentier, who made the semifinal for a gain of 67 points, leading to a ranking of #88.

At the ITF-tournament in Suzhou, Sara Errani won the title by defeating newcomer Guo Hanyu in the final, 6-1 6-0. Errani, who was the red hot favorite for this tournament (though unseeded), gained 20 points from Suzhou, and is ranked #72 this week. Guo Hanyu gained 39 points for a ranking debut at #386.

Sharapova wins first title since comeback

It has taken Maria Sharapova close to six months after her comeback from suspension to win her first title, and she did so in Tianjin. In the final, she met Aryna Sabalenka, whom she defeated in a close two-setter, 7-5 7-6. For Sabalenka, it was the first final, and she gained the most rating points, +66, for a rise to #92. Sharapova gained 52 rating points and has risen to #13. Honorable mention goes to the performances by Zhu Lin (+44, #149) and Stefanie Voegele (+38, #131).

In Linz, Barbora Strycova won the title after beating an injury-hampered Magdalena Rybarikova in the final, 6-4 6-1. For Strycova, it was just her second WTA-title, after a first in 2011 in Quebec City. Strycova gained 38 rating points for a rise to #14 in the rankings. Rybarikova won 25 EPL-points for a ranking of #28. The most points went to qualifier Mihaela Buzarnescu, who gained 56 points for reaching her first semifinal and has risen to #133 in the rankings. Other notable risers were Viktorija Golubic (+41, #100), Tatjana Maria (+28, #74) and Jana Fett (+26, #103).

The tournament in Hong Kong was finished after midnight due to rain delays. Eventually, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova beat Daria Gavrilova in a third set tie-break, 5-7 6-3 7-6. The closeness of the match corresponds with their ranking positions: Gavrilova gained 15 points for a ranking of #23, while Pavyuchenkova gained 58 points for a rise to #25, with only 5 rating points separating the two. Honorable mention goes to Lizette Cabrera (+46, #141) and Jennifer Brady (+44, #88) for performing beyond expectation.

Beijing brings second title in a row for Garcia

Over the past two weeks, Caroline Garcia has delivered on the predictions by winning two big Premier tournaments in a row (Andy Murray was one of the first to call her a potential Number One). Where last week she won Wuhan, this week she won the Premier Mandatory tournament in Beijing. In the final, she impressively defeated the new #1 (both in my EPL-ranking and in the WTA-ranking) Simona Halep, by the scoreline of 6-3 7-5. Garcia received 109 rating points for her tournament performance, while Halep gained 52 points. The other major receptors of EPL-points were Barbora Strycova (+86, #17) and Sorana Cirstea (+80, #39).

In the rankings, Simona Halep takes over #1 from Garbiñe Muguruza, who lost 46 points after retiring due to illness in her first round, dropping to #3. Elina Svitolina is again #2, only 5 points behind Halep. Caroline Garcia has climbed to #5 after this week, just behind Petra Kvitova, who also climbed 2 spots after a good performance (+34 rating points).

In this week's season's progress ranking, we see Ashleigh Barty having taken an enormous lead with a rating gain of 705 points (far more than the current record of 558, held by Belinda Bencic). In the current ranking, Barty is ranked #21, having started the season at #286. Garcia has climbed up to #6 in the progress ranking in the last two weeks. The other major risers are Jelena Ostapenko (+388, #15), Petra Martic (+343, #67), Elise Mertens (+310, #45) and Beatriz Haddad Maia (+304, #77). At the bottom end of the progress list we find Angelique Kerber, who has lost 395 points and dropped from #2 to #23 in the process.

Meanwhile, as the shadow ranking list shows, Serena Williams would still comfortably be #1 if she'd returned on October 8, and she has more than 150 rating points (= 150 days) to spare.

Garcia defeats Barty for Wuhan title

Last week, the tournament in Wuhan concluded with Caroline Garcia winning the title, having defeated Ashleigh Barty in the final, 6-7 7-6 6-2. For a Premier 5-tournament, this was quite a surprising run of the draw, as many high-level contestants participated. Early exits by Simona Halep (loss to Daria Kasatkina) and Caroline Wozniacki (loss to Maria Sakkari) opened up the draw for outsiders. Barty had ousted Johanna Konta in the second round, and made it into her biggest final yet, gaining 122 rating points and climbing to #19 in the rankings. Garcia had started by knocking out Angelique Kerber in the first round and also gained 122 rating points. Her new ranking this week is #10, her Top 10 debut.

The other most surprising performance at Wuhan came from Maria Sakkari, who rode her early success all the way to the semifinal. Sakkari gained 98 EPL-rating points this way, and has risen to #63 in the rankings. Magda Linette gained 87 points by making the third round, where she took a set off of Garbiñe Muguruza. Linette climbs to #61. Other notable gainers were Alizé Cornet (+61, #42) and Varvara Lepchenko (+57, #43).

In Tashkent, Kateryna Bondarenko won her first tournament since returning to the tour as a mother. In the final, she defeated Timea Babos in straight sets, 6-4 6-4. Bondarenko gained 78 rating points for a rise to #90 in the rankings. Babos gained 48 rating points and is ranked #60 this week. The most points went to recently returned Vera Zvonareva, who made the semifinal for a gain of 80 points. Zvonareva has climbed to #227 with this performance. Honorable mention goes to the other semifinalist Aryna Sabalenka, who gained 46 rating points for a rise to #112 in the rankings.

At the ITF-tournament in Templeton, California, Sachia Vickery took the title by beating Jamie Loeb in the final, 6-1 6-2. Vickery gained 47 rating points for a rise to #145. The most other points went to Taylor Townsend (+32, #103) and Jamie Loeb (+15, #190).

Dominant Wozniacki defends title in Tokyo

At this week's Toray Pan-Pacific Open in Tokyo, Caroline Wozniacki defended her title in great style, defeating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the final, 6-0 7-5. Even more impressive was her semifinal win against #1 Garbiñe Muguruza: 6-2 6-0. Overall, Wozniacki gained 59 EPL-points, rising from #9 to #6 in the rankings. The other major rating gains went to Angelique Kerber (+37, #19), Pavlyuchenkova (+36, #25) and Dominika Cibulkova (+33, #21). Kristina Mladenovic lost 31 rating points, having lost 6-0 6-0 to Wang Qiang, and is now ranked #41 after quite a long losing streak. Right before Wimbledon, she was ranked #10.

In Seoul, Jelena Ostapenko won her second tournament (after Roland Garros), coming from behind to beat fellow up-and-comer Beatriz Haddad Maia, 6-7 6-1 6-4. Ostapenko gained 37 EPL-rating points with this victory, rising to #17, but Haddad Maia gained more, +42 points, for a rise to #71 in the rankings. The most points in Seoul went to Luksika Kumkhum, who made a surprise run to the semifinal, had an impressive win against Sorana Cirstea along the way, and gained 71 points as a result. This week, Kumkhum is ranked 111th. Honorable mention goes to semifinalist Richel Hogenkamp, who gained 36 points for a rise to #115, having beaten Kiki Bertens in the first round.

In Guangzhou, the title went to Zhang Shuai, who beat Aleksandra Krunic in the final, 6-2 3-6 6-2. The finalists also gained the most EPL-rating points, with Krunic taking 69 points for a ranking of #46, her top 50 debut after a quick rise in the past few weeks. Zhang Shuai gained 62 points and is now ranked #35, the highest Chinese player in the rankings. Other major risers were Evgeniya Rodina (+39, #103), Lizette Cabrera (+39, #148), Yanina Wickmayer (+36, #72) and Rebecca Peterson (+32, #137).

At the ITF-tournament in Saint Petersburg, Belinda Bencic returned to the circuit after her injury with a title. She beat Dayana Yastremska in the final, 6-2 6-3. Bencic gained 22 rating points for this victory, and is ranked #61 this week. Yastremska won the most points, 45, and climbs to #238 in the rankings. Anhelina Kalinina reached the semifinal for a gain of 22 points, and is ranked #302 this week. Donna Vekic lost 30 rating points despite reaching the semifinals, and thereby has equaled the record loss for this type of tournament. She dropped from #43 to #52 this week.

Finally, another ITF-tournament was processed in Saint-Malo, which was won by Polona Hercog. She encountered a surprise finalist in Diana Marcinkevica, whom she beat 6-3 6-3. The major risers here were Marcinkevica (+38, #335), Hercog (+25, #107) and Daniela Seguel (+19, #207).

Japan Open in Tokyo sees Diyas win her first title

Last week (this update is a week late) Zarina Diyas won her first WTA-title in Tokyo, at the Japan Open international tournament. In the final, she beat qualifier Miyu Kato, 6-2 7-5. Along the way, Diyas had ousted Zhang Shuai and Christina McHale, among others, and gained 70 rating points as a result. Fellow finalist Kato gained even more points, 98, having beaten Kristyna Pliskova and Aleksandra Krunic. In the rankings, Diyas has risen to #75, while Kato climbed to #204. The other semifinalists also gained substantial points: qualifier Jana Fett gained 66 points for a rise to #117, while McHale received 55 points, rising to #61.

In Quebec City, Alison Van Uytvanck also won her first title, after beating Timea Babos in the final, 5-7 6-4 6-1. Van Uytvanck won 71 rating points with this result, leading to a ranking of #62. Babos took away 44 rating points for a rise to #72. The rest of the field didn't win or lose more than 30 rating points.

At the ITF-tournament in Biarritz, two recently returned players reached the final, with Mihaela Buzarnescu ending up winning against Patty Schnyder, 6-4 6-3. Buzarnescu, who recently regained her rating after a long injury layoff, gained 37 points for a rise to #171. Schnyder, who returned from retirement a few years ago and has recently regained a rating, received 27 points and reached a rank of #241. Martina Trevisan reached the semifinal, for a rating gain of 32 points and a rise to #309.

Stephens completes surprise run with US Open victory

With the #1 position in the rankings up for grabs at the US Open (both in the WTA- and EPL-rankings), neither of the candidates for #1 made it to the final. After an all-American semifinal round, Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys ended up finalists, with Stephens in such good form that Keys didn't stand a chance. Stephens ended up winning 6-3 6-0. For both, it was their first Grand Slam final, and a memorable one. For Stephens, the entire summer season has been an incredible comeback from injury. For Keys, it was a breakthrough performance after a mediocre first half of the season.

Rating-wise, Stephens made the most progress, with a gain of 187 points leading to a rise to #12 in the rankings. On August 7, she was ranked #75. Keys received 49 points (having forfeited half of her gain to Stephens with her loss in the final) and rises to #7 in this week's ranking. Another surprise resurgence was boasted by Kaia Kanepi, who reached the quarterfinal for a gain of 115 points and a rise to #75. Other players with major gains were Petra Kvitova (+92, #4), Jennifer Brady (+92, #99), Anastasija Sevastova (+84, #18), Kurumi Nara (+72, #125) and Maria Sakkari (+65, #87).

At the top of the rankings, little has changed. Garbiñe Muguruza remained #1, having gained 1 rating point, meaning she basically lived up to the expectation. Simona Halep is still at #2, despite a 32 point loss from a first round defeat against Maria Sharapova. Elina Svitolina lost 6 rating points and therefore couldn't capitalize on Halep's early loss; she's still at #3. The rise of Petra Kvitova to #4 was the most significant movement at the top of the rankings.

During the first week of the US Open, an ITF-tournament was played in Dunakeszi, which was processed as well. Here Dayana Yastremska was the winner, having beaten Katarina Zavatska in the final, 6-0 6-1. Yastremska gained 54 rating points for a rise to #279. Zavatska won 18 rating points and is now ranked #302. Honorable mention goes to newcomer Panna Udvardy, who reached the semifinal for a rating gain of 31 points and a ranking debut at #398. Her Hungarian compatriot Agnes Bukta also performed well, gaining 28 rating points and rising to #325.

In the second week of the US Open, a WTA 125K-tournament was played in Dalian. Here, Kateryna Kozlova won the title after beating the recently returned Vera Zvonareva in the final, 6-4 6-2. Zvonareva won the most points, 70, and is gradually rising back up the rankings, now at #335. Kozlova gained 53 points for a rise to #79 - a rise which is partially due to another 25 rating points gained at the US Open.

Gavrilova comes back to beat Cibulkova for first title in New Haven

The last preparatory tournament for the US Open, in New Haven, saw Daria Gavrilova win her first WTA-title. She came back from behind to beat Dominika Cibulkova, 4-6 6-3 6-4. This victory brought Gavrilova 62 EPL-rating points, resulting in a rise to #20 in the rankings. She just overtook Cibulkova, who gained 33 rating points for a rise to #22. Zhang Shuai impressed with a 34 point rating gain, which she deserved because of a 6-2 6-1 victory over an errant Petra Kvitova. Zhang is ranked #56 this week.

The US Open qualifiers were also played this week, resulting in 16 qualifiers. The most rating points were gained by Sachia Vickery (+71, #182), Viktoria Kuzmova (+56, #115), Ipek Soylu (+54, #185) and Mihaela Buzarnescu (+53, #192). The highest ranked qualifiers are Kateryna Kozlova (+43, #105), Kaia Kanepi (+49, #114), Kuzmova (see above) and Nicole Gibbs (+11, #121). Danielle Lao was the lowest ranked qualifier, ranked #269 after a gain of 45 rating points.

Muguruza grabs #1 with Cincinnati victory

A dominant Garbiñe Muguruza took the title in Cincinnati, having comprehensively defeated Simona Halep in the final, 6-1 6-0. Muguruza's performance earned her 101 rating points, leading to a jump from #4 all the way to number one. Halep only gained 6 rating points and remains at #2. The other player gaining 101 rating points this week was Sloane Stephens, who has gained 199 rating points over the past two weeks. In Cincinnati, Stephens lost to Halep in the semifinals, and her rating surge has brought her back up to #36. Other notable gains were made by an in-form Julia Goerges (+56, #35) and Camila Giorgi (+40, #41).

On the ITF-circuit, the 100K-tournament in Vancouver was won by Maryna Zanevska, who defeated Danka Kovinic in the final, 5-7 6-1 6-3. Zanevska gained 48 EPL-points for a ranking of #157. Kovinic received 28 rating points and is ranked #145 this week.

Number one position contested as Serena is temporarily absent

This delayed vacation update includes two ranking lists, from August 7 and 14, which are the first rating lists without Serena Williams at number one on them for a long time. As Williams is pregnant at present, and has not played for half a year, she has been removed from the ranking list. Meanwhile, her return ranking will decrease by 1 point per day, so if she comes back for the 2018 Australian Open, she might be in time to immediately return as the number one.

That said, for now the number one position is up for grabs. The first post-Williams number one was Simona Halep, who held the spot for one week, as Elena Svitolina took over the next week by just a whisker, having won the Rogers Cup at Toronto. Now let's turn to what happened in these two weeks.

In the first week of August, Ekaterina Makarova won in Washington by beating Julia Goerges in the final, 3-6 7-6 6-0. Makarova won 58 points and rose to #27 in the rankings. Makarova beat Simona Halep in the quarterfinal; Halep lost 27 points in Washington but still took over the #1 position. Other major risers were Bianca Andreescu (+49, #138), Andrea Petkovic (+40, #74), Mariana Duque-Marino (+37, #84) and Oceane Dodin (+35, #77), while finalist Goerges gained 21 points for a rise to #37. At Stanford, Madison Keys took the title having defeated Coco Vandeweghe in the final, 7-6 6-4. There, the most points went to Catherine Bellis, who gained 57 points for reaching the semifinal and rose to #38. Keys gained 55 points for a rise to #14. The other notable performances were those of Caroline Dolehide (+42, #195) and runner-up Vandeweghe (+34, #10).

The second week saw the Premier 5 tournament in Toronto, which was won by Elena Svitolina, who demolished Caroline Wozniacki in the final, 6-4 6-0. This win, combined with the 6-1 6-1 victory in the semifinal over Simona Halep, gave Svitolina a rating gain of 130 points, which was just enough to edge ahead of Halep by 1 rating point and take over #1, having come from #7(!) last week. Notable risers were Sloane Stephens (+98, #49), Naomi Osaka (+59, #40), Caroline Garcia (+47, #21), Lucie Safarova (+44, #27) and Caroline Wozniacki (+42, #7). At the ITF-tournament in Hechingen, Tamara Korpatsch won the title after beating Deborah Chiesa in the final, 2-6 7-6 6-2. Korpatsch gained 34 rating points for a ranking of #137, while Chiesa took 14 points for a ranking of #118. The most other points went to Jessica Pieri (+27, #371), Valentyna Ivakhnenko (+21, #193) and Magdalena Frech (+21, #248).

Siniakova surprises Wozniacki in Bastad final

In Bastad this week, Katerina Siniakova conquered her second title of the year after beating top seed Caroline Wozniacki in the final, 6-3 6-4. For Siniakova, it was her second Bastad final in a row, where last year she lost to Laura Siegemund. This time she managed to surprise the much higher ranked Wozniacki, gaining 29 rating points off of her in the final alone. Overall, Siniakova gained 82 rating points, for a rise to #41 in the rankings. Wozniacki lost 33 points overall and stays at #10. Barbora Krejcikova also gained many points, 60, by reaching the quarterfinal, double bageling Annika Beck in the first round. Krejcikova rises to #135 this week.

Peng Shuai won in Nanchang as the red hot favorite, as most of her opponents had ratings 500 or more points lower than hers. She defeated Nao Hibino in the final, 6-3 6-2. Peng gained 22 rating points this week, rising to #21 in the rankings. The most points were gained by Hibino (+70, #140) and Han Xinyun (+61, #227).

At the ITF-tournament in Prague, another favorite won: Marketa Vondrousova. She beat newcomer Karolina Muchova in the final, 7-5 6-1. The most points went to Muchova, who gathered 56 points, debuting at #349 in the rankings. The other notable risers were Chantal Skamlova (another newcomer) at (+39, #261), Camilla Rosatello (+30, #404) and Vondrousova (+27, #66).

Bertens defeats Kontaveit for Gstaad title

Kiki Bertens showed this week in Gstaad she's a better player on clay courts than on any other surface. For the second time this season, she won a clay court tournament, this time by beating Anett Kontaveit in the final, 6-4 3-6 6-1. Up to the final, Bertens did not drop a set and won 63 rating points in the process. In the rankings, Bertens has risen to #26. Kontaveit ended up losing 11 rating points, mostly because she had a significantly higher rating than her opponents, and dropping a set against Anna Kalinskaya didn't help either. Kontaveit remains at #18 in the ranking. The most points went to semifinalist Tereza Martincova, who added 72 points to her EPL-rating for a rise to #200. Other notable risers were the other semifinalist Sara Sorribes Tormo (+46, #139) and Tamara Korpatsch (+23, #151). Patty Schnyder has regained an EPL-rating, having defeated Amra Sadikovic in the first round. Schnyder's return ranking is #291.

In Bucharest, the tournament was dominated by Romanians, with Irina-Camelia Begu taking the title after defeating Julia Goerges 6-3 7-5. Begu didn't drop a set and gained 91 rating points for a rise to #56 in the rankings. The other surprise story was Ana Bogdan, who reached the semifinal for a gain of 81 rating points, rising to #114. Goerges lost 17 points over the course of the tournament, and has dropped from #33 to #35 in the rankings. The next three major risers after Begu and Bogdan were all Romanian: Elena Gabriela Ruse (+33, #385), Alexandra Dulgheru (+27, #128) and Jaqueline Cristian (+17, #391). For Ruse and Cristian, this is their debut EPL-ranking.

Muguruza wins Wimbledon, climbs to number 4

In her second Wimbledon final, Garbiñe Muguruza prevailed. While in 2015, Serena Williams got the better of her, this time Venus Williams succumbed to the Spaniard, 7-5 6-0. During the first set, it was a tight contest that could have gone either way. At the start, Muguruza's forehand was a bit shaky, but it improved as the match progressed. After Venus missed two opportunities to grab the first set at 4-5, Muguruza pushed through to win the first set 7-5. In the second set, Venus's level dropped off, while Muguruza caught fire and kept Williams under tremendous pressure. These two developments led to a one-sided affair in the second set, but a well deserved win for Muguruza.

As for the EPL-ratings, Muguruza prevailed in that department as well, gaining 189 points over the fortnight and rising from #16 to #4 in the rankings. Venus Williams also made good progress by reaching the final, receiving 61 points for a rise from #7 to #5. The other major riser was Magdalena Rybarikova, who surprised by making the semifinal, gaining 108 points for a rise to #23. Petra Martic continued her resurgence by reaching the fourth round, gaining 89 points and rising to #65. Other notable gains have been made by Coco Vandeweghe (+64, #16), Caroline Garcia (+63, #26), Heather Watson (+63, #45) and Maria Sakkari (+61, #103).

On the ranking watch, a few more notable moves are: Jelena Ostapenko climbs to #13, Anett Kontaveit climbs to #18, Polona Hercog returns to the Top 100 and Katie Boulter receives her first rating, entering the ranking at #269.

A few ITF-tournaments were played parallel to Wimbledon as well. During the first week, the ITF-tournament in Rome was won by Kateryna Kozlova, who beat Mariana Duque-Marino in the final, 7-6 6-4. Kozlova gained 39 points for a rise to #121, while Duque-Marino gained 19 points and is ranked #101 this week. Newcomer Jessica Pieri received the most points, 46, and she debuts in the ranking at #380. Another newcomer, Georgia Brescia, gained 26 points and debuts at #214 in the rankings.

At Contrexéville in the second week, Johanna Larsson prevailed by defeating Tatjana Maria in the final, 6-1 6-4. Larsson gained 44 points and is now ranked #53. Maria took away 22 points for a ranking of #86. Irina Maria Bara earned her first rating here, gained 26 points and debuts in the ranking at #208. Also in the second week, an ITF-tournament in Budapest was played, and it was won by Jana Cepelova. She beat Danka Kovinic in the final, 6-4 6-4, for a rating gain of 42 points. Cepelova now ranks #77. Kovinic gained 36 points and has climbed to #160.

As a bonus, the season's progress list up to today has been included.

Karolina Pliskova prevails in Eastbourne

Karolina Pliskova has proven this week she's one of the favorites for Wimbledon the coming fortnight. She won the premier lead-up tournament in Eastbourne in dominant style, beating Caroline Wozniacki 6-4 6-4. Her victory resulted in a rating gain of 56 points, not rising in the rankings but closing in on the top 3 at #4. Wozniacki gained 21 points for a rise to #6. The most points went to a surprisingly well playing Heather Watson, who reached the semifinal for a gain of 90 points and a rise to #65. Notable rises were made by Barbora Strycova (+37, #22), Duan Ying-Ying (+36, #103) and Tsvetana Pironkova (+32, #60).

On the ITF-circuit, a special tournament was played at Southsea, with just 16 contestants. Tatjana Maria won there, beating Irina-Camelia Begu in the final, 6-2 6-2. Maria gained 55 rating points for a rise to #99 in the rankings. Evgeniya Rodina conquered 18 points for a rise to #118. No significant gains were made otherwise.

Plenty of significant gains were made, however, at the qualifying tournament of Wimbledon. The most points were gained by young Russians Anastasia Potapova (+76, #219) and Anna Blinkova (+61, #189). They were followed by Irina Falconi (+58, #144), Bianca Andreescu (+55, #147) and Arina Rodionova (+54, #185). All these players also qualified for the main draw. The other qualifiers were, in ranking order, Alison Van Uytvanck (+23, #66), Ons Jabeur (+40, #83), Petra Martic (+35, #94), Marina Erakovic (+46, #110), Polona Hercog (+34, #113), Françoise Abanda (+44, #116) and Aryna Sabalenka (+51, #139).

Kvitova overcomes Barty in Birmingham final

In just her second tournament back on the tour, Petra Kvitova returned to winning ways in Birmingham. Only her opponent in the final, Ashleigh Barty, was able to win a set from Kvitova, as she took the first set 6-4. Kvitova was able to turn it around for a final scoreline of 4-6 6-3 6-2. Kvitova gained 24 rating points and stayed at #3 in the rankings. For Barty, the rocket-like ascent continued with a gain of 73 rating points and a ranking of #54. Over the entire season, Barty has already accumulated 498 points. Other notable gains were made by Coco Vandeweghe (+33, #20) and Naomi Broady (+32, #118).

For the first time on grass, Anastasija Sevastova won a WTA-tournament as she defeated Julia Goerges in Mallorca: 6-4 3-6 6-3. Sevastova's only other tournament win had come in Estoril in 2010, on clay. Her victory gave her 50 EPL-rating points, resulting in a rise to #26 in the rankings. Goerges gained even more points, at 82, rising to #30. The major other risers in Mallorca were Catherine Bellis (+35, #48) and Ana Konjuh (+33, #42). Mallorca also saw the returns of Victoria Azarenka, who re-enters the ranking at #12, and Sabine Lisicki, who is now ranked #56.

And, for the second week in a row, Magdalena Rybarikova won an ITF-tournament on grass, this time at Ilkley. She beat Alison Van Uytvanck in the final, 7-5 7-6. The resulting rating shifts were quite small: Rybarikova won 26 points for a ranking of #39, and Van Uytvanck gained 22 points for a ranking of #70.

Kontaveit wins first title in 's-Hertogenbosch

This week, the grass court season has taken off with tournaments in 's-Hertogenbosch and Nottingham. The tournament in 's-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands, was won by Anett Kontaveit, who beat Natalia Vikhlyantseva for her first title: 6-2 6-3. The depth and accuracy of Kontaveit's groundstrokes was more than Vikhlyantseva could handle. For Kontaveit, this means she gained 59 points, rising to #20 in the rankings - her Top 20 debut. Vikhlyantseva acquired 47 rating points, rising to #99 in the rankings. Lesia Tsurenko also improved her ranking substantially, gaining 49 points after reaching the semifinal, and she climbs to #31 in the rankings.

Donna Vekic won the tournament in Nottingham, after a very close match against top seed Johanna Konta: 2-6 7-6 7-5. Vekic, who's having a very good year so far, rose by 85 rating points and has climbed up the ranking to #65. Konta gained 3 rating points and remains at #6 in the rankings. The most notable other riser was Kristie Ahn, who reached the quarterfinal after comprehensively beating Naomi Osaka and Magda Linette, accumulating 50 rating points and rising to #127 in the process.

A third grass court tournament was played on the ITF-circuit in Manchester, where Zarina Diyas prevailed. She defeated Aleksandra Krunic in the final, 6-4 6-4. Diyas gained 37 rating points for a rise to #90. Krunic has risen to #88 after gaining 12 points. Gabriella Taylor received 31 rating points by reaching the quarterfinal, and she has risen to #360 in the rankings.

A star is born: Ostapenko grabs her first title at Roland Garros

And the new Roland Garros champion is... Jelena Ostapenko! Who would have thought, before the tournament. I made a calculation of each player's chances based on my rating system before Roland Garros started, and Ostapenko's chances to win were just 0,59%. Her opponent in the final, Simona Halep, was one of the favorites with a winning chance of 7,87%. But, as the final unfolded, it appeared Ostapenko was dictating play with her aggressive, fast groundstrokes, and Halep was winning games only when Ostapenko misfired. Ostapenko did that quite often, especially in the first half of the match, when she went 4-6 0-3 behind, but as she started to miss less, her number of winners eventually caught up with her unforced errors, and she turned the match around, winning 4-6 6-4 6-3. Halep was never able to do more than run down balls and bringing them back. For Ostapenko, it was her first tournament victory on the tour, which earned her a rating gain of 190 points, leading to her Top 20 debut at #17. Halep gained 38 points and passed Petra Kvitova for the #2 ranking spot.

There were a few more major stories to this tournament, such as the revival of Petra Martic, who reached the fourth round as a qualifier and almost knocked out Elina Svitolina there. Martic gained 175 rating points, rising to #100. Another surprise fourth round was put in by Veronica Cepede Royg, who had knocked out Lucie Safarova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova before succumbing to Karolina Pliskova in three sets. Cepede Royg gained 128 points for a rise to #97. Timea Bacsinszky was excellent again, and reached her third semifinal in Paris, gaining 114 rating points for a rise from #21 to #10. Honorable mention goes to Alizé Cornet (+81, #34), Magda Linette (+77, #95), Ons Jabeur (+64, #99), Hsieh Su-Wei (+61, #98), Chloe Paquet (+61, #345) and Tsvetana Pironkova (+60, #72), for playing above their expected levels.

During the second week of Roland Garros, the WTA 125K-tournament at Bol was played as well. It was won by Aleksandra Krunic, who beat Alexandra Cadantu after retirement (6-3 3-0). The both of them also gained the most rating points: Krunic received 71 points for a rise to #92, while Cadantu gained 55 points for a ranking of #150.

On the ITF-circuit, Marseille was played on clay, and Surbiton on grass. At Marseille, Jasmine Paolini won the title, and received her first rating as a result. She debuts at #179 in the rankings after gaining 56 points. Her opponent in the final, Tatjana Maria, was beaten by the scoreline of 6-4 2-6 6-1. Maria gained 32 points for a ranking of #106. Notable progress was made as well by semifinalist Dalma Galfi, who gained 34 points for a ranking of #310. At Surbiton, Magdalena Rybarikova won another tournament by beating Heather Watson in the final, 6-4 7-5. Rybarikova gained 52 rating points for a rise to #46 - a notable ranking, considering her WTA-ranking of #117.

Bertens ready for Roland Garros after second Nurnberg victory

Kiki Bertens successfully defended last year's Nurnberg title this week. Without dropping a set, she reached the final, where she ousted surprise finalist Barbora Krejcikova 6-2 6-1. With a rating gain of 52 points, Bertens has risen to #18 this week. Compared to last year at this point in the season, her EPL-rating is 24 points higher and she's ranked 6 places better. And last year she made the semifinal at Roland Garros, so her expectations will be quite high this year. As for Krejcikova, this was her first eye-catching performance on the WTA-tour, and she gained 75 EPL-points for it, rising to #151 in the rankings. Other good performances had been put in by Carina Witthoeft (+37, #58) and Misaki Doi (+37, #78).

In Strasbourg, Samantha Stosur put in a good performance by winning the tournament, reminding everyone she is still a major contender on clay. In the final, she beat compatriot Daria Gavrilova in a tight match: 5-7 6-4 6-3. Stosur, who had dropped quite a bit over the past months, gained 101 rating points in Strasbourg, rising back to #30. Gavrilova gained 20 points for a ranking of #24. A bit more impressive was the performance of another Australian: Ashleigh Barty, who reached the semifinal for a gain of 49 points. Barty has already 415 rating points this year, putting her miles ahead on this year's progress list. Barty is ranked #76 this week.

At the qualifying tournament of Roland Garros, the most surprising qualifier was Miyu Kato, who gained 72 points for a ranking of #285. The highest ranked qualifier was Bethanie Mattek-Sands (+19, #55), while newcomer Quirine Lemoine also qualified and received a first rating, at ranking #155. The other qualifiers were: Petra Martic (+61, #169), Beatriz Haddad Maia (+51, #93), Ana Bogdan (+49, #137), Marketa Vondrousova (+47, #60), Richel Hogenkamp (+39, #95), Françoise Abanda (+38, #124), Sara Errani (+34, #61), Alison Van Uytvanck (+33, #85) and Kateryna Kozlova (+21, #119).

Svitolina outlasts Halep in Rome final

In Rome, Simona Halep made her second consecutive final, but this time, in the final against Elina Svitolina, her physical condition deteriorated after a rolled ankle, letting Svitolina gradually take over the match. Svitolina won, 4-6 7-5 6-1, which gained her her fourth title of the year. It has to be said, Svitolina played very well this tournament, and her victory was well deserved. She gained 89 rating points, jumping to #3 in the rankings. Halep is now ranked #2, having earned 37 points in Rome. Petra Kvitova, last week's #2, has dropped out temporarily because her absence due to injury has now lasted half a year.

The other player gaining 89 rating points was Anett Kontaveit. She especially impressed by dismissing Angelique Kerber in the second round, 6-4 6-0. Kontaveit climbs to #28 in this week's ranking. Almost as impressive was Kiki Bertens, who made the semifinal this week for a rating gain of 80 points and a rise to #22 in the rankings. Bertens has now compensated all the points she lost in the early part of the season and has started to rise above her ranking at the start of the year. Honorable mention goes to Garbiñe Muguruza, who reached the semifinal for a gain of 44 points and a rise to #14. Wild card Deborah Chiesa received her first rating for a debut ranking of #112.

At the 100K ITF-tournament in Trnava, Marketa Vondrousova won the title after beating Veronica Cepede Royg in the final, 7-5 7-6. Vondrousova won 50 rating points, climbing to #75 in the rankings. Cepede Royg received 32 points and is ranked #135 this week. Most of the other points, 42, went to newcomer Anastasia Potapova, who debuts in this week's ranking at #285.

The other relevant ITF-tournament was the 60K-tournament in Saint-Gaudens, which was won by Richel Hogenkamp. She beat Kristie Ahn in the final, 6-2 6-4. Hogenkamp gained 47 rating points for a rise to #103, while Ahn earned 19 points, rising to #163. Valentini Grammatikopoulou gained 33 points for a ranking of #208.

Halep successfully defends Madrid title

As the clay season progresses, Simona Halep has been gradually improving, up to the point that this week she was able to repeat her Madrid victory from last year. In the first rounds she had narrow escapes against Roberta Vinci and Samantha Stosur, but after her dominant quarterfinal against Coco Vandeweghe (6-1 6-1), there was no stopping her. In the final, Kristina Mladenovic tried, but Halep prevailed: 7-5 6-7 6-2. Halep received 63 rating points overall, and climbed to #3 in the rankings as a result. Mladenovic won 52 points for a new personal best ranking of #11.

The most progress in Madrid was made by Anastasija Sevastova, who reached the semifinal - where she lost to Halep. Her impressive run earned her 96 EPL-points and a ranking of #26. Kiki Bertens also made an impressive run to the quarterfinal, giving her 65 rating points for a #36 ranking, gradually climbing her way back up after a mediocre start of the year. Other notable runs were made by Oceane Dodin (+59, #90), Eugenie Bouchard (+58, #40), Sorana Cirstea (+57, #59) and Misaki Doi (+53, #80).

On the ITF-circuit, Cagnes-sur-Mer was played and won by Beatriz Haddad Maia, who beat Jil Teichmann in the final, 6-3 6-3. Haddad Maia earned 64 rating points, climbing to #107, while Teichmann gained 52 points for a ranking of #185. Newcomer Katarina Zavatska made the semifinal, gaining 46 points on top of her start rating, and entering the ranking at #307.

Last week's tournament in Gifu was eventually won by Magdalena Rybarikova, who beat Zhu Lin in the final, 6-2 6-3. Rybarikova took 8 rating points off of Zhu Lin in this single match.

Qualifier Barthel wins in Prague

This season had already seen a bit of a comeback from Mona Barthel, but the fact that she won in Prague after coming through three qualifying rounds was still a surprise. After knocking out Zhang Shuai, Oceane Dodin, Camila Giorgi and Barbora Strycova, in the final she edged Kristyna Pliskova in a close three setter: 2-6 7-5 6-2. It brought her a gain of 84 EPL-rating points, leading to a jump from #61 to #34 in the rankings. Kristyna Pliskova added 53 points to her rating and has climbed to #37. Another notable performance was Beatriz Haddad Maia's, who ousted both Christina McHale and Samantha Stosur in two sets, eventually gaining 58 points. Haddad Maia has risen from #167 to #130 in the rankings.

In Rabat, the resurgent Francesca Schiavone could not complete a run to another title, because she was thwarted by top-seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the final, 7-5 7-5. It was Schiavone who gained the most rating points, +59, for a rise to #79. Pavlyuchenkova gained 40 rating points, rising to #13 as a result. Tatjana Maria gained 46 points after reaching the quarterfinal, which brings her ranking back up to #125.

The ITF-tournament in Gifu has progressed to the final, which is to be played between Zhu Lin and Magdalena Rybarikova. As the premier tournament in Madrid has already started, I could not wait with the new ranking list until tomorrow. The most prominent rating changes in this tournament so far are Zhu Lin (+43, #176), Luksika Kumkhum (+22, #139), Julia Glushko (+21, #205) and Rybarikova (+20, #70).

Siegemund goes all the way in Stuttgart

Last year, Laura Siegemund had a breakthrough performance in Stuttgart, making the final - which she lost to Angelique Kerber. This time around, she made the final again, but with an in-form Kristina Mladenovic as her opponent, she won the tournament. The final was very tense, ending in a third set tie-break: 6-1 2-6 7-6. Siegemund gained a whopping 116 EPL-rating points from her victory, while Mladenovic received 56 points. In the new rankings, Siegemund has climbed to #31, while Mladenovic can be found at #14.

An interesting side story from Stuttgart has been the return of Maria Sharapova. Having been offered a wildcard for her first tournament after her suspension period, she made the semifinal, where she was beaten by Mladenovic. Sharapova gained 45 points on top of her return rating of 5182, leading to a ranking of #19 after this week. Honorable mention goes to Anastasija Sevastova, who, having ousted Johanna Konta, gained 36 points for her run to the quarterfinal. She's ranked #41 in this weeks ranking.

In Istanbul, the favorite, Elina Svitolina, won the tournament pretty much as could be expected. In the final, she defeated Elise Mertens - one of this season's most prominent risers - in straight sets: 6-2 6-4. In the end, Svitolina won only 3 rating points, mostly because she'd lost 20 points by dropping a set 0-6 to Victoria Kamenskaya in the first round. Compensating that against players with much lower ratings proved difficult, but possible. Mertens gained 44 points and climbs to #54 in the rankings, while Svitolina gained one spot for a #8 ranking. The most rating points went to Dayana Yastremska (+74, #345), Basak Eraydin (+62, #233) and Cagla Buyukakcay (+50, #142), three quarterfinalists.

On the ITF-circuit, the tournament in Anning was won by Zheng Saisai, who defeated Zarina Diyas in the final, 7-5 6-4. The rating effects for the finalists were: Zheng Saisai (+16, #102) and Diyas (+11, #96). The most points, +30, went to Yang Zhaoxuan, who is ranked #328 this week. At another tournament in Tunis, Richel Hogenkamp won, by defeating Lina Gjorcheska in the final, 7-5 6-4. The most rating points went to Gjorcheska (+38, #382), followed by Hogenkamp (+33, #119). Finally, in Charlottesville, the ITF-tournament was won by Madison Brengle, who won the final against newcomer Caroline Dolehide, 6-4 6-3. Dolehide gained 36 points for a debut ranking of #264, while Brengle collected 30 points, climbing to #79.

As a bonus, this week's entry also contains an updated season's progress ranking, which is currently led by Ashleigh Barty (+351, #91), followed by Elise Mertens (+286, #54). At the bottom of the list, we find Agnieszka Radwanska and Angelique Kerber, who have lost 231 and 200 points, respectively.

Abanda and Mertens excel in Fed Cup playoffs

Last week, we saw no major WTA-tournaments being played because it was a Fed Cup week. As for the team results, the semifinals were won by the United States and Belarus. The Belarusian team was carried by Aliaksandra Sasnovich, who beat both Timea Bacsinszky and Viktorija Golubic. Her compatriot Aryna Sabalenka edged Golubic as well, thereby avoiding a deciding doubles match against Switzerland. The Americans needed the doubles match against the Czech Republic, in which Coco Vandeweghe won both her singles matches, but the Czechs won the other two.

The most impressive individual performances came from Françoise Abanda and Elise Mertens. Abanda defeated both Yaroslava Shvedova and Yulia Putintseva in straight sets in Canada's World Group II playoff against Kazakhstan, which brought her 62 rating points. Mertens helped Belgium to a win over Russia in the World Group I playoff by beating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Elena Vesnina, for a rating gain of 53 points. Abanda and Mertens are ranked #144 and #68 respectively. Sasnovich has climbed to #63 after a gain of 42 rating points.

There was a WTA 125K-tournament in Zhengzhou last week, which was won by Wang Qiang. She ended up the winner after Peng Shuai retired at the score of 3-6 7-6 1-1. Wang gained 40 points with her victory, climbing to #46 in the rankings. Peng gained just one point and is ranked #20 this week. Jang Su Jeong gained 33 points by reaching the quarterfinal, rising to #211 in this week's ranking.

On the ITF-circuit, Kristie Ahn won the tournament in Dothan by beating Amanda Anisimova in the final, 1-6 6-2 6-2. Both players gained 34 rating points with their performance. Ahn is ranked #173, Anisimova #158.

Schiavone shows her fighting spirit by winning Bogota

At Bogota this week, Francesca Schiavone showed it is yet too early to write her off, especially on clay courts. She ended up a surprise winner after beating Lara Arruabarrena in the final, 6-4 7-5. While Schiavone had been dropping well outside of the Top 100 this year, this victory propelled her back inside the Top 100, gaining 116 points for a rise from #131 to #93. Arruabarrena gained 8 points and is now ranked #75. Other major risers were Sara Sorribes Tormo (+57, #107) and Aleksandra Krunic (+33, #109).

In Biel, a breakthrough performance was put in by Marketa Vondrousova, who, as a qualifier, won her first WTA-title at 17 years of age. She beat Anett Kontaveit in the final, 6-4 7-6, not having dropped a set in the entire tournament. Vondrousova gained 118 points and rises to #89 in the rankings, her Top 100 debut. Kontaveit gained 23 EPL-points for a rise to #43. Other notable performances were those of Aliaksandra Sasnovich (+54, #71) and Elise Mertens (+41, #79).

Kasatkina wins first WTA-title in Charleston

At the first major clay court tournament of the year in Charleston, young talents prevailed over experienced players. The final was played between two teenagers, Daria Kasatkina and Jelena Ostapenko. Kasatkina won, beating Ostapenko impressively, 6-3 6-1. Kasatkina gained 97 points for a rise to #25, while Ostapenko gained 69 points, rising to #46. Other major gains were made by Laura Siegemund (+79, #48), Anastasia Rodionova (+64, #154), Fanny Stollar (+49, #259) and Shelby Rogers (+43, #50).

In Monterrey, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova won for the fourth time, beating Angelique Kerber in the final, 6-4 2-6 6-1. Pavlyuchenkova gained 40 rating points, climbing to #13 in the rankings, while Kerber won just 3 points, remaining at #6. Honorable mention goes to Carla Suarez Navarro, who gained 35 points for a rise to #22, and Kristie Ahn, who received 33 points, rising to #193.

Konta takes over #3 spot after beating Wozniacki in Miami final

In Miami, most top players performed well, leading to a star-studded field at the end of the tournament, in a battle for the #3 ranking. In the end, Johanna Konta prevailed after beating Venus Williams in the semifinal and Caroline Wozniacki - the current #3 - in the final, 6-4 6-3. With that victory, Konta just overtook Wozniacki for the #3 ranking. The other semifinalist was Karolina Pliskova, who also played well but still dropped in the ranking from #4 to #5. Venus Williams returned to the Top 10 (#9) after her impressive performance in Miami.

Where Konta and Wozniacki gained 76 and 50 points, respectively, the most points were gained by Risa Ozaki, +87, who reached the fourth round after beating Louisa Chirico, Kiki Bertens and Julia Goerges. Ozaki rises to #110 in the rankings. Other notable risers were Lara Arruabarrena (+79, #71), Bethanie Mattek-Sands (+75, #49), Patricia-Maria Tig (+73, #112), Lucie Safarova (+67, #16) and Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (+55, #23).

At the ITF-tournament in Croissy-Beaubourg, another final was reached by Ekaterina Alexandrova. This time she defeated Richel Hogenkamp, 6-2 6-7 6-3, for her second ITF-title in a month. Alexandrova gained 43 points for a rise to #101, whereas Hogenkamp gained 37 points for a new ranking of #128. Even more points were gained by Anna Zaja, who received 56 points for her run to the semifinal, and rises to #284.

Vesnina excels in Indian Wells

This year's edition of Indian Wells was a showcase for the gradual equalization of the top of the women's field. With a few top players absent (Serena Williams, Petra Kvitova) there were no huge rating differences beforehand, and the tournament developed accordingly. The eventual winner was Elena Vesnina, ranked #31 before this week. Vesnina beat Angelique Kerber in the fourth round, 6-3 6-3, and got such a boost from that win that she marched on to the final, where she met fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova. Vesnina won that final in a close match, 6-7 7-5 6-4.

Vesnina made good progress, winning 134 points for a rise to #16, whereas runner-up Kuznetsova gained 62 points for a climb to #9 in the rankings. Other major improvements were made by Kristyna Pliskova (+81, #49), Kayla Day (+81, #180), Kristina Mladenovic (+73, #17), Pauline Parmentier (+73, #69) and Peng Shuai (+63, #20). Caroline Wozniacki gained 30 points, moving up to #3 in the rankings, after reaching the quarterfinal.

Two ITF-tournaments were processed parallel to Indian Wells. During the first week, Zhuhai was won by Denisa Allertova, who beat Zheng Saisai in the final, 6-3 2-6 6-4. Allertova gained 40 points for a rise to #73, while Zheng received 29 points, reaching a ranking of #111. During the second week, Ekaterina Alexandrova won the ITF-tournament in Shenzhen, beating Aryna Sabalenka in the final, 6-2 7-5. Alexandrova scored +50 for a ranking of #114, while Sabalenka gained 38 points for a rise to #155.

Barty enters Top 100 with Kuala Lumpur title

Ashleigh Barty won her first WTA-title in Kuala Lumpur this week. She ousted Nao Hibino in the final, 6-3 6-2. Her ratings had been rising quickly after her return to the circuit, but this victory propels Barty into the Top 100 for the first time, rising to #97. Over the season, she's accumulated 325 rating points, far ahead of the rest of the field. In Kuala Lumpur, Barty gained 85 points, followed by surprise semifinalist Han Xinyun (+64, #183) and runner-up Hibino (+44, #114).

In Acapulco, Lesia Tsurenko won her third WTA-title by defeating Kristina Mladenovic in the final, 6-1 7-5. For Tsurenko, this resulted in a rating gain of 83 points and a rise back to her career high of #29. Other notable gains were made by Christina McHale (+31, #34), Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (+28, #26) and Ajla Tomljanovic (+26, #184). Mladenovic gained 13 points and just rose into the Top 20 for the first time.

Svitolina overpowers Wozniacki in Dubai final

This week in Dubai, Elina Svitolina won her second tournament in a row - a Premier 5 tournament this time - beating Angelique Kerber in the semifinal and Caroline Wozniacki in the final by the scoreline of 6-4 6-2. Svitolina's level of play has been improving gradually over the past few years, almost stealthily. But this tournament, which brought her a gain of 85 rating points, sees her rise to a ranking among the stars of women's tennis: a shared ranking of #4 (with Johanna Konta). Last week's #3, Karolina Pliskova, lost 40 rating points in Dubai and has dropped to #6 this week.

The most prolific riser in Dubai was Anastasija Sevastova, who reached the semifinal for a gain of 98 rating points. Sevastova is now back into the top 50 at #46, for the first time since this ranking system officially started. Catherine Bellis also made a huge impression by ousting Agnieszka Radwanska, gaining 85 points and rising to #61. Other notable rating gains were made by Wang Qiang (+68, #60), Ana Konjuh (+52, #28) and Christina McHale (+41, #42).

In Budapest, the international tournament was won by top seed (but not top ranked) Timea Babos, who beat (top ranked) Lucie Safarova in the final, 6-7 6-4 6-3. Babos gained 59 points for her tournament, rising to #35 in the rankings. Safarova received 31 points for a rise to #21. Carina Witthoeft impressed with a semifinal performance, gaining 42 points for a ranking of #57.

Karolina Pliskova rises to #3 after Doha victory

Last week, the tournament in Doha, plagued by rain delays, saw Karolina Pliskova win the final against Caroline Wozniacki in impressive fashion, 6-3 6-4. Both finalists played a good tournament, with Pliskova gaining 49 points and Wozniacki 46. In the rankings, Pliskova has moved up from #6 to #3, having passed Agnieszka Radwanska, Johanna Konta and Angelique Kerber. Wozniacki is the new #7.

Other impressive performances were made by Monica Puig and Lauren Davis, who both gained 31 rating points. Puig reached the semifinal after beating Daria Kasatkina, and then lost to Wozniacki. Davis had beaten Roberta Vinci and Elena Vesnina for a place in the quarterfinal, before succumbing to Wozniacki as well.

First round Fed Cup sees Belarus reach first semifinal

The first week of Fed Cup-play this year saw the Czech Republic, the United States, Switzerland and Belarus reach the semifinals of the World group. For the Belarussians, this was their first time, having done so by beating the Netherlands, 4-1.

As for the individual performances, the most unexpected ones came from the Group I-matches. The most points were won by Jang Su Jeong (+58), who mostly profited from Yaroslava Shvedova's lack of form, beating her in straight sets. Jang's ranking improved to #256 as a result. Other major gains were made by Galina Voskoboeva (+54, #228), Heather Watson (+46, #61), Rebecca Sramkova (+44, #182), Aliaksandra Sasnovich (+38, #99) and Ivana Jorovic (+35, #215).

The ITF-tournament in Launceston, meanwhile, was won by Jamie Loeb, who beat Tamara Zidansek in the final, 7-6 6-3. Loeb gathered 30 EPL-points with this victory, while Zidansek added just 1 point. Loeb has risen to #191 as a result, while Zidansek is now ranked #164. The most points were gained by Barbora Krejcikova, who received 33 points for a ranking of #193.

First WTA-title for Mladenovic in St. Petersburg

In Saint Petersburg this week, Kristina Mladenovic won her first WTA-title by defeating Yulia Putintseva in a tight final, 6-2 6-7 6-4. This was a major surprise, given the strength of the field at this tournament: with Simona Halep, Dominika Cibulkova, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Venus Williams, four top 12 players were present. As a result, both finalists gained a lot of EPL-rating points: Mladenovic earned 86 points, Putintseva 74. First time semifinalist Natalia Vikhlyantseva, one of this season's up-and-comers, finished between them with a gain of 76 points. Mladenovic has risen to #27 in the rankings, Putintseva has climbed to #41 and Vikhlyantseva is now ranked #73.

In Taipei, Elina Svitolina was the favorite before the tournament, and ended up the winner there, after beating the resurgent Peng Shuai in the final, 6-3 6-2. With the added 21 EPL-points, Svitolina has risen to #10, her Top 10 debut. Peng Shuai won the most points, at 64, and rises to #34 as a result. Another good performance was put in by Ons Jabeur, who reached the quarterfinal for a gain of 57 points and a rise to #139 in the rankings.

At the 100K ITF-tournament in Midland, Michigan, the title went to Tatiana Maria, who defeated Naomi Broady in the final, 6-4 6-7 6-4. For Maria, this resulted in a rating gain of 59 points and a rise to #119, while Broady gained 25 points for a ranking of #98. Newcomer Katherine Sebov reached the semifinal here, and debuts in the ranking at #356.

The fourth and final tournament processed took place at Burnie, Tasmania, and there Asia Muhammad left as the winner. She beat Arina Rodionova in the final, 6-2 6-1. This gained Muhammad 61 rating points, for a rise to #174 in the ranking. Rodionova gained 20 points and is now ranked #197. Burnie saw two newcomers as well. Marie Bouzkova debuts in the ranking at #262, while Tamara Zidansek enters at #165.

Serena beats Venus for 23rd Major title

This Australian Open saw the first 'Sister Act' final in a Grand Slam in eight years, the last having occurred at Wimbledon 2009. While the fact that the Williams sisters are still at the top of the game at 36 and 35 years old is amazing in itself, what surprises even more is that they are still able to improve aspects of their games at that age. The final was quite a tense affair, but played at a very high level. In the end, Serena was just a bit more consistent, leading to a 6-4 6-4 victory, and her twenty-third Grand Slam title of her career (one more than Steffi Graf).

Rating-wise, both sisters made good progress: Serena won 72 EPL-rating points, extending her lead in the rankings to 187 points. Venus gained even more, 94 points, for a rise from #16 to #10 in the rankings. The top risers of the tournament were the semifinalists CoCo Vandeweghe and Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, with 145 and 125 points respectively. Vandeweghe rises to #16 as a result, while Lucic-Baroni climbs to a record high of #29. Other notable performances were put in by Sorana Cirstea (+108, #62), Ashleigh Barty (+97, #139) and Jennifer Brady (+87, #108).

Looking at the new ranking, the rise to #3 by Johanna Konta, behind Serena Williams and the injured Petra Kvitova, stands out. Konta again played a very good tournament, but had the misfortune to run into Serena in the quarterfinal, against whom she had no chance. Other top players, notably Simona Halep, Agnieszka Radwanska and Angelique Kerber, played below par and lost a lot of points (-65, -59 and -47, respectively).

On the ITF-circuit, a 60K-tournament was played in Andrézieux-Bouthéon which was won by the player with by far the highest rating, Anett Kontaveit. She was only seeded third, based on her WTA-ranking, but she proved the best of the tournament. In the final, she beat Ivana Jorovic 6-4 7-6. Kontaveit gained 23 points for a ranking of #76, while Jorovic gained 33 points for a rise to #241. The most points were gained by Amra Sadikovic, who added 42 points for a ranking of #251.

Return Rankings: Sharapova still virtually in Top 20

While we await a new official ranking list, which will be published next week after the Australian Open, there is time for an update on the return ratings of absent and retired players. The current policy is that players who have retired, or are absent from the tour for over half a year, are removed from the ranking list. From that point on, they lose one rating point per day of absence.

The policy was updated last year to accommodate for suspended players, in this case Maria Sharapova. In the case of suspension, the removal policy takes effect from the day the suspension takes effect, which in Sharapova's case was March 12, 2016. The start of her official suspension was later moved back to the end of the 2016 Australian Open, but this decision was not incorporated in the return rating, because I do not allow decisions to affect the strength of players in the past.

As is visible from the ranking list of return ratings, Sharapova is still virtually ranked #14, even after losing 316 rating points. She is projected to return on April 26, 2017, meaning she will lose 94 more rating points. If she starts on that day as planned, in Stuttgart, she will return with a rating of 5182, which would rank her at #21 in the current rankings.

The return rating list is headed by Victoria Azarenka, who is currently on maternity leave, and is still virtually ranked inside the Top 10.

Konta rises to world class level in Sydney

It was quite a performance that Johanna Konta showed in the Sydney final, dismissing Agnieszka Radwanska in straight sets, 6-4 6-2. Radwanska actually played reasonably well, but Konta's display of power hitting, movement and angles proved just too much. Konta's level had been buidling up for some time, but this tournament, won without dropping a set, proved she's now to be considered a potential Grand Slam winner. Her rating shows it too: she gained 66 EPL-points for a rise from #9 to #6 in the rankings, bridging most of the gap separating her from the top. Radwanska gained just 2 points and remains at #4. Eugenie Bouchard reached the semifinal in Sydney for a rating gain of 60 points, rising to #33. Daria Kasatkina beat Angelique Kerber in the second round and ended up gaining 22 rating points after losing to Konta. She rises from #19 to #17. Other players gaining points were Duan Ying-Ying (+42, #96) and Barbora Strycova (+33, #15).

Hardly less impressive than Konta's run was the performance by Elise Mertens in Hobart, who won the tournament without dropping a set, beating accomplished players such as Kristina Mladenovic, Kiki Bertens and Monica Niculescu along the way. She won the final against Niculescu in impressive style: 6-3 6-1. Last week, Mertens was ranked #146. With the 131 rating points she won this week, she's now ranked #92, entering the Top 100 for the first time. Honorable mention goes to Jana Fett, who reached her first semifinal for a gain of 62 points and a rise to #172.

The qualification of the Australian Open saw its share of surprises as well. Most notable was the run from Anna Blinkova, an 18-year-old ranked outside the Top 300. She qualified for the main draw, gaining 89 EPL-points in the process and rising to #296. The highest ranked qualifiers are Mona Barthel (+53, #70), Aliaksandra Sasnovich (+29, #98) and Natalia Vikhlyantseva (+54, #100). Other notable risers were Lina Gjorcheska (+61, #376) and Elizaveta Kulichkova (+59, #116).

First WTA-titles for Siniakova and Davis

The WTA-season has started off this week with tournaments in Auckland, Shenzhen and Brisbane. In Auckland, Lauren Davis surprisingly won the title, her first, beating Ana Konjuh in the final, 6-3 6-1. With straight sets wins against Kiki Bertens and Barbora Strycova along the way, Davis collected no less than 100 rating points. Jelena Ostapenko was the only one to take a set off Davis, in the semifinal, and she received 54 rating points for her run. The other semifinalist, Julia Goerges, gained 36 points, while Konjuh gained 35 for her run to the final. Madison Brengle beat Serena Williams in the second round, and ended up gaining 24 points, while Williams lost 39. In the rankings, Serena remains #1, Davis climbs to #40, Konjuh rises to #43, Goerges is ranked #38 and Ostapenko can be found at #73.

Katerina Siniakova ended up the winner in Shenzhen, having beaten Alison Riske in the final, 6-3 6-4. For Siniakova this was her first title, too. Siniakova gained 78 EPL-points, having beaten Simona Halep and Johanna Konta, and rising to #23 as a result. Riske beat Agnieszka Radwanska in the quarterfinal, for a gain of 54 points and a rise to #30. Honorable mention goes to the performances of Kristyna Pliskova (+31, #82) and Nina Stojanovic (+30, #184).

Brisbane was this week's strongest tournament, which was won by Karolina Pliskova. Pliskova comprehensively beat Alizé Cornet in the final, 6-0 6-3, for a rating gain of 54 points. Cornet gained more points, 62, for her run to the final. Cornet's most impressive performance was her 6-3 7-5 victory against Dominika Cibulkova in the quarterfinal. With these results, Pliskova climbs from #12 to #6 in the rankings, while Cornet climbs to #32. The other playing gaining substantial points was Ashleigh Barty - again - who took a set off of Angelique Kerber in the second round and gained 53 points. Barty is now ranked #185, but she's rising fast and is playing at a level worthy of at least Top 100. Qualifier Destanee Aiava gained her first rating by reaching the second round. She debuts in the ranking at #97, which is very high for a newcomer. Time will tell if she'll be performing accordingly.

In December, one more high-level ITF-tournament was played in Dubai, which has been processed in the December 17 ranking list, see below. Hsieh Su-Wei won there, after beating Natalia Vikhlyantseva in the final, 6-2 6-2. The major risers in Dubai were Hsieh (+48, #91), Lesley Kerkhove (+31, #251), Galina Voskoboeva (+22, #321) and Vikhlyantseva (+20, #122).

Bellis shows her potential in Honolulu

In the first two weeks of the off-season, several WTA-challengers have been played. Starting November 14, there were these 125K-tournaments in Limoges and Taipei, and last week, the tournament in Honolulu was played.

Limoges saw Ekaterina Alexandrova earn a surprise victory, with an especially impressive result in the final. In that match, she beat the top seed Caroline Garcia 6-4 6-0. Alexandrova gained as much as 101 rating points for this performance, leading to a ranking jump from #174 to #119. Garcia lost 23 points and dropped to #30 in the rankings. Significant points were gained by Natalia Vikhlyantseva (+44, #130) and Stefanie Voegele (+33, #177).

In Taipei, the title went to Evgeniya Rodina, who knocked out Chang Kai-Chen in the final: 6-4 6-3. Chang gained more rating points, however, earning 46 to Rodina's 36. In the November 20 ranking, Rodina has climbed to #117, while Chang is ranked #155. Honorable mention goes to Ashleigh Barty, who gained 33 points in Taipei, slowly climbing back up a little more to #241. A new rating has been acquired by Veronika Kudermetova, who enters the ranking at #230 after reaching the second round.

Last week in Honolulu, Catherine Bellis, one of the most promising young talents, won her biggest title yet, beating Zhang Shuai - last season's most improved player - in the final in straight sets: 6-4 6-2. Bellis gained 65 points over the week and has climbed into the Top 100 for the first time; she's now ranked #90. Zhang Shuai gained only 2 points and stays at #34 in the rankings. A new rating was acquired by Jacqueline Cako, who reached the semifinal and gained 56 points from her start rating. She debuts at #349 in the rankings. Sachia Vickery gained 34 points, mostly by beating Maria Sakkari in the first round, and climbed to #193.