With the WTA Finals rapidly approaching, now is a good time to take a look at some of the recent changes to the rankings. The field is already set for Singapore, but that doesn’t mean that the rest of the players on tour aren’t looking to finish the season on a high note.
Three players that saw their rankings improve dramatically in recent weeks are Maria Sharapova, Jennifer Brady and Johanna Larsson.
Sharapova is up 29 spots (No. 57) after defeating Aryna Sabalenka, 7-5, 7-6 (8), in the Tianjin Open final last weekend. It was the Russian’s first title since coming back from her suspension, which also means this was her first tournament victory since 2015. She did, however, follow that up with a first round loss to Magdalena Rybarikova in the Kremlin Cup.
Brady, meanwhile, jumped 20 spots to get to No. 60 thanks to a run at the Hong Kong Open. The 22-year-old American defeated Misa Eguchi, Nicole Gibbs and Shuai Zhang before losing to Daria Gavrilova in straight sets in the semis.
And finally, Larsson made her way back into the Top 80 after her quarterfinal run in Linz. The 29-year-old defeated both Jana Cepelova and Varvara Lepchenko before running out of luck against Viktorija Golubic in the quarterfinal.