Toronto (Canada): Romanian star Simona Halep rode her recent superb form that won her second WTA Tour title of the season at Toronto this weekend, has moved into the top 10, climbing to the No. 6 spot in the latest WTA Rankings released on Monday.
Halep, who has won two Grand Slam titles — French Open 2018 and Wimbledon 2019, was placed No.27 till the week of February 28. But a rich vein of form that has seen her reach the semifinals at seven of her 13 tournaments this season, including four of her past five outings, helped her move to No. 15 before the Toronto Open.
With the title in Toronto, Halep moved up nine spots to No.6, her highest ranking since the week of June 28, 2021.
Iga Swiatek of Poland remained on top of the rankings with Anett Kontaveit of Estonia at No. 2 while Greece’s Maria Sakkari moved one place to No. 3 and Paula Badosa of Spain dropped one spot to fourth. Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur completes the top five and Halep re-enters the top 10 at No. 6.
Aryna Sabalenka, Jessica Pegula, Garbine Muguruza, and Daria Kasatkina make the top 10 in the list.
Meanwhile, Coco Gauff, who teamed up with fellow American Jessica Pegula to win their second WTA 1000 title of the year at Toronto, has become at 18 years, 154 days the second youngest player to reach the No. 1 rankings in doubles.
Martina Hingis (17 years, 251 days) holds the distinction as the youngest to move to No.1, while Gauff is slightly younger than Anna Kournikova (18 years, 168 days).
While Gauff moves to No.1, Pegula also makes her Top 10 debut in doubles and holds the No.8 ranking in both singles and doubles this week.
Beatriz Haddad Maia became the first Brazilian to reach a WTA 1000 final, and her runner-up performance in Toronto earns her 585 ranking points. She moves up eight spots, from No.24 to No.16. Haddad Maia becomes the first Brazilian to reach the Top 20 since the introduction of the computer ranking system on Nov. 3, 1975, said a report on the WTA website.
Haddad Maia was ranked No.115 as recently as last October but has compiled a 43-17 record at all levels in 2022, and 26-14 in WTA main draws. This includes the 26-year-old’s first two WTA titles in Nottingham and Birmingham, as well as the Saint-Malo WTA 125.
–IANS