WTA Rankings Update: Rome champion Svitolina rises, Paolini out of top 10 as Cirstea breaks new ground

Another WTA 1000 tournament has been played out with a lot of significant results leading to changes in the WTA rankings. The champion Elina Svitolina is one of the many big winners from the Rome Open, but there are also losers who desperately seek momentum and wins on court ahead of the big one at Roland Garros which starts this Sunday.

There is no change at the top. Aryna Sabalenka has suffered uncharacteristic early exits in both the Madrid Open and most recently in the Rome Open, but her gap to Elena Rybakina is still over 1000 points. While the Kazakh could leapfrog her at Roland Garros, there is a feeling that Sabalenka will stay as world number one for some time to come.

Iga Swiatek solidifies her position in third with a decent number of points being added. She looked back to her best in spells at Foro Italico, but a semi-final exit limited her progress. She managed to extend her lead to Coco Gauff in fourth who remained on the tally she sat on before the start of the tournament. Another final defeat is a positive result heading to Roland Garros where 2000 points are up for grabs.

Another two Americans follow. Jessica Pegula gained 150 points while Amanda Anisimova remains in sixth despite not competing. The first movement comes for the champion Svitolina. She shot up three places to seventh in the world thanks to sealing a third title in Rome.

Mirra Andreeva drops a place with Karolina Muchova capping off the top 10.

Belinda Bencic and Linda Noskova all rose in the rankings thanks to last year’s champion Jasmine Paolini’s continuous struggles. The Italian lost a number of points and drops out of the top 10 for the first time in nearly two years. Now in 13th, the chasing pack behind gathers pace.

Marta Kostyuk did not compete in Rome but stays in 15th after that triumph in Madrid. Ludmilla Samsonova rises back into the top 20 into 18th after a three-place rise. A brilliant run to the semi-finals for Sorana Cirstea, which also involved dumping out the world number one, sees her break into the top 20 for the first time. Up nine positions to 18th, she breaks new ground in Rome.

Anastasia Potapova returns to the top 32 after a fantastic clay swing. A last-16 result in Rome was enough to boost her up 10 places with Jelena Ostapenko following close behind after her quarter-final. Going the other way is Emma Raducanu, relinquishing her top 32 status. She has not played since Indian Wells and will be desperate to get some points on the board at the Internationaux de Strasbourg.

Alexandera Eala returns to the top 40 as Emma Navarro falls another four places to 39th. An early exit in Rome opened an opportunity for two-time Grand Slam champion Barbora Krejcikova in her first WTA final appearance since 2024. She lost in the 125 event in Parma but rises 11 positions. The winner, Dayana Yastremska, climbs seven spots to 45th.

There are career-highs for Talia Gibson (55th) and Zeynep Sonmez (59th) but despair for Qinwen Zheng. While her old self was seen in periods in Rome, she is now down to 53rd, suffering a huge 21 place drop. It is not the biggest. Peyton Stearns reached the semi-final stage last year, but a last-64 exit sees her plummet a drastic 43 spots amid 355 points being swiped away from her tally.

The biggest winner in terms of places risen is Nikola Bartunkova. Entered as a lucky loser, she defeated Madison Keys in the second round before losing to Svitolina. 29 places were gained and she now sits in a career high 65th. Donna Vekic (+19 to 70th) and Taylor Townsend (+23 to 73rd) both rose significantly.

(as per livetennis.eu)