WTA Fantasy Tennis Rankings post Indian Wells: Sabalenka at a career-high

IN an update to our fantasy tennis competition, we have adjusted the WTA Tour rankings accordingly following the conclusion of Indian Wells. We will update both the ATP and WTA Tours once major tournaments are completed and name the key bolters and sliders since the last update.

BOLTERS:

Kiki Bertens +2 (#7 to #5)

The Dutchwoman has managed to move up two places into the top five despite a Round of 16 exit. With both Bianca Andreescu and Elina Svitolina dropping, Bertens moves into fifth, but only just. She backed up her fourth round from the 2019 Indian Wells and did enough to earn a boost in her rankings and move into a critical position, particularly with Simona Halep out leaving a top four seed for Bertens.

Aryna Sabalenka +3 (#11 to #8 – career-high)

Having reached the final at Indian Wells, Sabalenka moves up to a career-high eighth in the world. She continues to build on some impressive form, but her final appearance was much better than her Round of 16 exit in 2019. With a good run at Miami she could further move up the rankings with less than 200 points separating Bertens and herself in the mid top 10 rankings logjam.

Camila Giorgi +11 (#89 to #78)

A Round of 32 exit may not seem overly exciting, but the Italian’s run – which saw her pick up 65 points having toppled 28th seed Barbora Strycova – handed her an important boost into 78th in the world. What is the most important aspect of that boost is with four players still unavailable for the Miami Open next week, and the top 74 automatically qualifying, Giorgi does not have to rely on qualifying or a wildcard to get in, which is a huge bonus.

SLIDERS:

Bianca Andreescu -5 (#6 to #11)

Unfortunately with injury comes ranking points loss and last year’s winner copped the full 1000-point loss. It forced her to drop from sixth out to 11th in the world, and the Canadian will be keen to return back to the top 10. It does mean in 2021 she will have a fresh slate without having to defend points, but it certainly hurts for now.

Marketa Vondrousova -2 (#18 to #20)

Unlike the other two in the sliders, the Czech played at Indian Wells, but just bowed out in the Round of 32. Unfortunately the loss was enough to see her drop two places, just holding onto a spot inside the top 20. This came after she reached a quarter final here 12 months ago in what was a memorable run, but now she drops back not able to defend that spot.

Angelique Kerber -17 (#21 to #38)

In a similar place to Andreescu, last year’s finalist also had to bypass Indian Wells due to injury. Had she played she could have kept some of the points on offer, but instead she drops 650 points which saw her tumble all the way from 21st down to 38th in an unfortunate drop. She is capable of bouncing back once she is fit, but will unfortunately miss next week’s tournament at Miami as well.

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