Rankings Watch: Maria returns to Top 50, Zheng hits No. 4

Tatjana Maria returns to the Top 50 after her Queen’s Club title run, Zheng Qinwen breaks into the Top 4 for the first time and Iva Jovic becomes the youngest player in the Top 100 -- just one year after sitting outside the Top 300.

The annual transition from clay to grass on the Hologic WTA Tour can feel like a sudden reset. Out go the dusty orange courts and grinding rallies; in come manicured lawns and lightning-quick reflexes.

This year's first grass-court champions showed just how vital hand skills are on the surface, slicing, drop-shotting and volleying their way to the trophies. At the WTA 500 HSBC Championships at the Queen's Club in London, Tatjana Maria put together a remarkable underdog run, coming out of qualifying and defeating four consecutive Top 20 players -- Karolina Muchova, Elena Rybakina, Madison Keys and Amanda Anisimova -- to bag her fourth career title.

She had been two points from defeat against Muchova in the second round, but did not drop a set for the rest of the tournament. Maria is now a perfect 4-0 in tour-level finals.

The 37-year-old Maria first cracked the Top 100 in May 2007 but has enjoyed her best results since giving birth to her first daughter, Charlotte, in 2013. She broke into the Top 50 in October 2017 and won her first title a year later on the grass of Mallorca. In 2022, she delivered a memorable run to the Wimbledon semifinals -- the last time she notched a Top 10 win before this week -- though did not receive points for that result due to the tournament's ban on Russian and Belarusian entries.

She reached a career high of No. 42 in January 2024 but had fallen to No. 86 before Queen’s, following a nine-match losing streak dating back to April. This career-best title vaults her 43 spots to No. 43, just one place off her personal best in this week’s PIF WTA Rankings.

At the WTA 250 in 's-Hertogenbosch, Elise Mertens completed the career surface sweep of titles on clay, hard courts (both indoor and outdoor) and grass with her first trophy on the latter courts. The Belgian saved 11 match points in the semifinals against two-time champion Ekaterina Alexandrova -- the most this decade -- en route to her 10th career title and second of 2025, following Singapore.She climbs one place to No. 24.

New career highs for Zheng, Anisimova; 's-Hertogenbosch finalist Ruse rises

Zheng Qinwen and Amanda Anisimova each posted their best grass-court results to date at Queen’s, and both are rewarded with new career-high rankings this week. Doha champion Anisimova reached her second final of 2025, and first of her career on grass. She climbs two places to No. 13.

Anisimova's run included victory in a three-set semifinal barnburner over Zheng, who reached the semifinals of a grass-court event for the first time with a win over home hope Emma Raducanu. Zheng is up one place to No. 4.

Queen's semifinalist Madison Keys also climbs back up two spots to No. 6.

In 's-Hertogenbosch, Elena-Gabriela Ruse also made her first career grass-court final (and fourth overall), qualifying and then scoring wins over Bianca Andreescu and Elisabetta Cocciaretto. The 27-year-old Romanian reached her career high of No. 51 in May 2022, but spent most of 2023 and 2024 outside the Top 100. Ruse is heading in the right direction again, rising 22 places to No. 58.

Jovic, Zakharova, Sierra make Top 100 debuts

Last week, four players cracked the Top 100 for the first time -- the largest cohort in a single week since 2013. Hot on their heels comes another trio of Top 100 breakthroughs this week.

Iva Jovic, 17, won the first WTA 125 title of her career on the grass of Ilkley last week, dethroning defending champion Rebecca Marino in the final. The American built on a junior grass pedigree that included the 2024 Wimbledon girls' doubles champion alongside Tyra Caterina Grant. This time last year, Jovic was ranked No. 394. This week, she climbs 26 places to enter the Top 100 at No. 89. Jovic is the third 2007-born player to break the Top 100 following Mirra Andreeva and Brenda Fruhvirtova, and takes over from Andreeva as the youngest player currently in that echelon.

Anastasia Zakharova enjoyed a breakthrough run at Queen's, qualifying and then upsetting Donna Vekic for her first Top 30 win to reach the second round. The 23-year-old built on strong results at ITF level, where she has collected three W100 titles over the past 11 months. Zakharova first cracked the Top 200 in November 2021 and has remained in the Top 250 for the past five years. This week, she reaches a new level, jumping 18 spots to No. 93.

Solana Sierra, the 2022 Roland Garros junior finalist, has been steadily climbing the pro ranks since. The Argentinian cut her ranking from No. 212 to No. 154 in 2024, a season that saw her qualify for the US Open to make her tour-level debut. This year, she added her first WTA 125 title in Antalya in March, as well as two ITF W75 trophies in Vero Beach and Bellinzona, then came through Grand Slam qualifying for a second time at Roland Garros. Sierra, 20, reached the Valencia WTA 125 quarterfinals last week to improve her season record to 29-11. She is up three spots to No. 100 this week, becoming the third Argentinian to enter the Top 100 in the past two years (following Maria Lourdes Carle and Julia Riera).

In total, 16 players have broken into the Top 100 for the first time in 2025 so far.

Czech teenagers Valentova, Samson boosted by titles

Jovic wasn't the only 2007-born player to claim her first WTA 125 title last week. Tereza Valentova, 18, made her tour-level debut at Roland Garros, where she made the second round as a qualifier. The Czech teenager continued her momentum by lifting the trophy in Grado, a run that included her second Top 100 win in the second round over top seed Renata Zarazua. Valentova's season record is now 29-7, and she shoots up another 28 places to a new career high of No. 120.

Laura Samson turned heads in Prague last July on her tour-level debut, becoming the first 2008-born player to win a WTA main-draw match and going all the way to the semifinals. The 17-year-old won her first ITF W75 title last week on home soil in Ceska Lipa, soaring 76 places to a new career high of No. 272.

Two former Top 50 players also returned to the Top 100 courtesy of title runs last week. Former No. 45 Nuria Parrizas Diaz was the champion in Valencia, collecting her fourth career WTA 125 trophy and first since Canberra 2024. The 33-year-old Spaniard climbs 19 places to No. 85.

Meanwhile, Mayar Sherif won the Biarritz W100 event and is back up 20 places to No. 88.

Other notable rankings movements

Elisabetta Cocciaretto, +18 to No. 105: The Italian made her first tour-level semifinal in almost exactly a year in 's-Hertogenbosch. The last time Cocciaretto made the last four of a WTA main draw was also on grass, at Birmingham 2024.

Heather Watson, +17 to No. 147: On home soil, the Briton reached the second round of Queen's as a qualifier via an upset of Yulia Putintseva -- her first Top 30 win since February 2024.

Louisa Chirico, +21 to No. 155: Former No. 58 Chirico reached the second WTA 125 final of her career last week in Valencia -- and first in nearly a decade, following her runner-up showing at Limoges 2025 to Caroline Garcia.

Barbora Palicova, +28 to No. 171: Palicova, 21, reached the first WTA 125 final of her career in Grado, falling to Valentova in an all-Czech final. Palicova rises to a new career high.

Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah, +35 to No. 181: Rouen quarterfinalist Rakotomanga Rajaonah was the Biarritz ITF W100 runner-up to Sherif. The 19-year-old Frenchwoman enters the Top 200 for the first time.

Carson Branstine, +35 to No. 196: Branstine, the 2017 Australian Open and Roland Garros girls' doubles champion with Bianca Andreescu, made her WTA main-draw debut last week by qualifying in 's-Hertogenbosch. The 24-year-old Canadian then scored a first-round upset of top seed and defending champion Liudmila Samsonova in her first-career meeting with a Top 50 player. Branstine, who played college tennis for Texas A&M University, also reached her first WTA 125 final in February in Cancun.

Kaitlin Quevedo, +33 to No. 222: The 19-year-old Spaniard collected her second career ITF W35 title in Klagenfurt two weeks ago, and is lifted to a new career high.

Matilde Jorge, +13 to No. 251: For the second straight week, the Jorge sisters contested a Portuguese ITF W50 final on their home turf. Two weeks ago, 21-year-old Matilde defeated 25-year-old Francisca in Montemor-o-Novo, but this time the older sister reversed the result in Guimaraes (Francisca now leads the overall head-to-head 5-3). Nonetheless, Matilde rises above Francisca in the rankings for the first time this week. Francisca was the defending champion, loses points as the tournament was an ITF W75 last year, and falls 21 places to No. 259.

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