The quarterfinal line-up of the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last week was a statistical oddity. All of the players who made the last eight were former Grand Slam champions or finalists -- but six of them were unseeded at the WTA 1000 event.
Consequently, the dominant theme of this week's edition of the WTA rankings is resurgence. Whether players have fallen down the list due to injury, maternity leave or simply a slump in form, talent has a habit of rising again.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (+8, No.32 to No.24): Pavlyuchenkova reached her first WTA 1000 semifinal at Indian Wells 2009, at the age of 17. Fifteen years later, she took out Daria Kasatkina and Marketa Vondrousova en route to the last four in Doha, her second semifinal of 2024 already. Ranked No.844 just over a year ago as she started her comeback from knee surgery, the 32-year-old is now back in the Top 30 for the first time since May 2022.
Victoria Azarenka (+4, No.31 to No.27): Three weeks ago, Azarenka dipped out of the Top 30 for the first time since October 2022. A quarterfinal run in Doha, featuring her third victory over Jelena Ostapenko this year already, sees her return to it.
Leylah Fernandez (+5, No.38 to No.33): Last July, Fernandez was ranked No.95 and in danger of falling out of the Top 100. The former US Open runner-up has put together an impressively consistent resurgence since then. She rounded off 2023 by reaching the Guadalajara quarterfinals and capturing the Hong Kong title. Last week, she defeated Zheng Qinwen to make the Doha quarterfinals, her fourth at WTA 1000 level or above.
Karolina Pliskova (+23, No.59 to No.36): One day after snapping a four-year title drought in Cluj-Napoca, Pliskova was back on court in Doha. In a remarkable show of resilience, the former World No.1 shrugged off the travel between continents and the change in conditions to go all the way to the semifinals. Three weeks ago, she exited the Top 50 for the first time since May 2014; her nine-match winning streak has seen her quickly return to it.
Danielle Collins (+17, No.63 to No.46): The former Australian Open runner-up is attacking her final season on tour with a renewed intensity. Like Pliskova, Collins had minimal turnaround time over the past fortnight. A day after losing her Abu Dhabi quarterfinal to Elena Rybakina, she was back on court in Doha qualifying, battling for nearly three hours to overcome Kimberly Birrell. Collins ultimately reached the quarterfinals, and is back in the Top 50 for the first time since last October.
Naomi Osaka (+461, No.747 to No.286): Last week, Osaka's comeback from maternity leave started to gain momentum. The former World No.1 had only won one match in her first three tournaments back, but made the Doha quarterfinals with a pair of solid victories over Caroline Garcia and Petra Martic.
Other notable rankings movement
Jelena Ostapenko (+2, No.11 to No.9): The only movement within the Top 10 sees a re-entry for Jelena Ostapenko, who reached the third round in Doha to take her season record so far to 14-3. As a result, Maria Sakkari falls out of the Top 10 for the first time since September 2021, dropping from No.9 to No.11.
Erika Andreeva (+7, No.106 to No.99): Andreeva, 19, makes her Top 100 debut -- joining 16-year-old sister Mirra -- after qualifying and reaching the second round of Doha. Though Mirra's prodigious rise has captured the headlines, Erika's trajectory has also been impressive. The Roland Garros junior finalist in 2021, she reached her first two WTA 125 finals last autumn in Rouen and Andorra.
Photos: All of 2024's Top 100 debuts
Jessica Bouzas Maneiro (+12, No.144 to No.132): Since the Australian Open, Bouzas Maneiro has been on a tear on the ITF World Tour, winning 14 of her last 15 matches. The 21-year-old Spaniard has reached three straight finals, collecting titles at the Porto W75 and, last week, at the Morelia W50. Ranked No.164 a month ago, Bouzas Maneiro is now just seven places off the career-high of No.125 she set last October.
Lulu Sun (+21, from No.202 to No.181): A month after qualifying for her first Grand Slam main draw at the Australian Open, Sun is continuing to shine. The 22-year-old Swiss player captured her sixth career ITF title at the Roehampton W50 and rises to a new career-high as a result.
Julia Avdeeva (+45, from No.246 to No.201): Avdeeva slammed down 74 aces in five matches en route to the Altenkirchen ITF W75 title last week, her second at that level since October. The 21-year-old, who notched her second Top 100 victory over Oceane Dodin in the semifinals, was ranked No.519 this time last year and is now at a career-high.
Alison Van Uytvanck (+197, from No.706 to No.509): The former Roland Garros quarterfinalist was sidelined for eight months of 2023 due to a back injury. Van Uytvanck returned in October, winning the Reims ITF W25 title in her first event back. In the third tournament of her comeback, she reached the Altenkirchen ITF W75 final last week after upsetting No.2 seed Clara Tauson in the first round.