PARIS, France -- Barbora Krejcikova was rewarded for her victory in Dubai, where she beat the top three players in the world, with a return to the Top 20 after climbing 14 places in the new WTA rankings released on Monday.
The 27-year-old Czech, who won the French Open in 2021, is up to No. 16 following her remarkable performance in Dubai.
In successive matches, she came back from losing the first set 6-0 to defeat world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in the quarterfinals, the American world No. 3 Jessica Pegula in the semis and then, in straight sets, Iga Swiatek in the final.
It is a welcome return to the higher echelons of the game for Krejcikova who a year ago was ranked No. 2.
In spite of the defeat Swiatek remains the No. 1 by a clear margin.
Liudmila Samsonova (12th) and Beatriz Haddad (13th) swap places while Ekaterina Alexandrova (18th) and the Romanian Simona Halep, the former world No. 1, now 19th, slip two spots.
Two-time Grand Slam winner Halep has not played since losing to qualifier Daria Snigur in the first round of last year's US Open. In October she was provisionally suspended for a positive drugs test.
Rankings (players representing Russia and Belarus are banned from competing under the name or flag of their countries):
1. Iga Swiatek (POL) 10585 pts
2. Aryna Sabalenka 6100
3. Jessica Pegula (USA) 5495
4. Ons Jabeur (TUN) 4921
5. Caroline Garcia (FRA) 4835
6. Cori Gauff (USA) 4251
7. Maria Sakkari (GRE) 3451
8. Daria Kasatkina 3375
9. Belinda Bencic (SUI) 3360
10. Elena Rybakina (KAZ) 2935
11. Veronika Kudermetova 2620
12. Liudmila Samsonova 2301 (+1)
13. Beatriz Haddad Maia (BRA) 2256 (-1)
14. Victoria Azarenka 2237
15. Petra Kvitova (CZE) 2227
16. Barbora Krejcikova (CZE) 2205 (+14)
17. Karolína Plískova (CZE) 2045 (+1)
18. Ekaterina Alexandrova 2030 (-2)
19. Simona Halep (ROM) 1955 (-2)
20. Madison Keys (USA) 1857 (+3)
Agence France-Presse
