WTA Rankings Update: Rybakina debuts in top two, Andreeva on cusp of top 10 as Raducanu and Eala look over their shoulders

The first part of the Sunshine double has been concluded. Indian Wells once again proved to be a thrilling competition with twists and turns occurring on a regular basis. All of the best players in the world took centre stage in the Californian desert as both winners and losers were categorised via movement up or down in the rankings. With this being a WTA 1000 tournament, it is set to be a significant number of changes.

Aryna Sabalenka finally managed to get over the line in a big title after so many recent setbacks, specifically against Elena Rybakina. She won a thriller, surviving a match point, and extended her lead at the top of the tree. The big change is Rybakina moving up a spot into second place for the first time. This means that Iga Swiatek has dropped a place into third as her concerning form is finally showing in the rankings.

It is yet to be seen if Coco Gauff will compete in the Miami Open as she looks over her shoulder with her American compatriots closing in. A quarterfinal for Jessica Pegula brings her right on the edge with Amanda Anisimova biding her time in sixth. There is then a huge gap down to Jasmine Paolini in seventh, with Elina Svitolina and Victoria Mboko’s deep runs pushing them up to eighth and ninth, respectively.

This is also aided by Mirra Andreeva losing two places with over 900 points having been failed to be recuperated from her title heroics 12 months ago. She has got past a tricky period and will start to look in front of her instead of over her shoulder. Fellow Russian, Ekaterina Alexandrova, sits just outside of the top 10.

A semi-final for Linda Noskova sees her climb a position to 13th in the world just trailing Belinda Bencic. She is also back to being the Czech number one with Karolina Muchova dropping a spot. Iva Jovic pops up in a new career high of 17th in the world. Madison Keys drops another three places to 18th in the world with Elise Mertens slotting in 19th, emerging back in the top 20.

Emma Raducanu has jumped up a single place, but her form has not been great in recent times. She will be in danger of plummeting a few positions if unable to defend the Miami Open quarterfinal from last year. Jenela Ostapenko and Leylah Fernandez rise a couple of spots each, with Qinwen Zheng and Emma Navarro dropping down to 26th and 27th, respectively.

Alexandra Eala is playing some really nice stuff in recent times. She debuts in the top 30 in the world after a last-16 run at Indian Wells, perched in 29th. A whole heap of points will be on the line for the Filipina in Miami with her famously making a name for herself last year by reaching the semi-final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Cristina Bucsa is also making a first appearance in the top 30, jumping into 30th after Maya Joint slipped down a couple of spots.

As you gaze downwards, there are some more career high rankings being confirmed. Oleksandra Oliynykova gains seven places due to reaching a Challenger final and can be found in 66th. The biggest rise by far goes to Talia Gibson. She was ranked outside the top 100 before Indian Wells, but after blasting up 4 positions, now slots in at world number 68. Further down, Paula Badosa makes a welcoming return to the top 100.

Other big winners come in the form of Anastasia Zakharova (+12 to 74th), Taylor Townsend (+7 to 80th), Kamilla Rakhimova (+6 to 82nd), Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva (+8 to 89th) and Veronika Erjavec (+11 to 91st).

With risers come fallers, and no one bigger than Danielle Collins. Just 65 points come off but that results in a 21 place drop down to 99th in the world. Other losers come in the form of Viktorija Golubic (-9 to 84th), Julia Grabher (-6 to 85th), Simona Waltert (-7 to 88th) and Kava Juvan (-6 to 98th).

(as per livetennis.eu)