2013 BSA's: Rankings Round-Up

Rankings, rankings, rise and fall.
No one player (not even you-know-who) can win them all.
Wish they may, wish they might.
Have the ranking they deserve tonight.

Or something like that. Either way, here's the annual whole-lotta-love (and numbers) year-end rankings rundown. I can't promise all these words and numbers will be as mesmerizing as Sara Errani's eyes... but, hey, what can you do, right?



**RANKINGS NOTES OF NOTE**
[as of end-of-season ranks on November 4, 2013]
Normally, we can count on a Williams Sister pulling a high ranking while playing fewer tournaments than nearly everyone within sight. In 2011, Serena finished at #12 while playing fewer events than anyone in the Top 100, with the next highest-ranked player with the fewest appearances coming in at #103. Her name? Venus Williams. Last year, #2 Serena counted fifteen events (13, really, plus two mandatory event zero totals), while the only Top 70 player with fewer was, again, her #24-ranked big sister. Well, in 2013, the "Williams gimme" is no more, as #1 Serena played more than ever. Her seventeen events (again, 16 plus a zero total for the boycotted mandatory event in Indian Wells) were still on the low side, but two players ranked in the Top 29 -- #4 Maria Sharapova (15) and #2 Victoria Azarenka (16) --built their rankings on fewer tournaments, while two additional players in the Top 50 accumulated points from just fourteen events: #30 Kaia Kanepi and, of course, #49 Venus. Well, some things DON'T change, I guess. No other players ranked in the Top 100 played as few as fourteen events, and we have to look down to #165 Ksenia Pervak (11) to find a player who arrived on site with less frequency. Maybe the most impressive ranking, though, might have been produced by Alisa Kleybanova, embarking on her comeback from Hodgkin's Lymphoma. The Russian, a former Top 20 player, posted a year-end ranking of #185 despite playing just seven events. The next-lowest ranked player with fewer was Ivana Lisjak at #380.
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Once again, the South American women lagged far behind their continental counterparts on the ATP tour in 2013. Although, for the first time in ages, there might be a flickering light at the end of the tunnel. The last five seasons have seen the number of men from S.A. ranking in the singles Top 50 outpace the woman by a combined total of 22-2, with the only two Top 50 finishes coming from the now-retired Gisela Dulko. There still aren't any South American women in the Top 50 this year, while there are currently three men. But after the highest-ranked woman from the continent came in at #136 year ago, there are TWO South Americans positioned in the Top 100 this season -- Argentina's Paula Ormaechea, last year's high-ranker, and Teliana Pereira of Brazil, plus another who just missed out at #101. Ormaechea has become the leading contender to be the continent's next Top 50 talent, as the 20-year old reached her first tour singles final in Bogota and has raised her ranking at the conclusion of each of the last five seasons. Meanwhile, with the 2016 Olympics around the corner, keep an eye on Brazil. Last year, there were no Brazilians in the Top 300, with Pereira the highest-ranked at #175, while 2013 sees three in the Top 300, with Pereira leading the way at #90.
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Usually, several big names fall from ranking grace over the course of the year. But the 2013 year-end rankings have turned out to be unusually stable at the top. In fact, nine of 2012's Top 10 finished there again this season (only Samantha Stosur fell out), the first time that's happened since 2002. That season, only 2001's #1-ranked player, Lindsay Davenport, failed to maintain her place in the Top 10, though that was because she missed most of the season due to a knee injury.

This is a trend that has been building, as two years ago only four players repeated their Top 10 status, while seven did so in 2012.

TRIVIA!!: When was the last time all of the WTA's Top 10 maintained their rankings one year later?
ANSWER: 1992, as all of 1991's Top 10 -- Monica Seles, Steffi Graf, Gabriela Sabatini, Martina Navratilvoa, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, Jennifer Capriati, Jana Novotna, Mary Joe Fernandez, Conchita Martinez & Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere -- booked return engagements

Still, the tour wasn't immune to big ranking drops from highly-ranked players. #18 Julia Goerges slipped all the way down to #73 this year, while Yaroslava Shvedova tumbled from #29 to #81. On the other side of the equation, the Top 10 welcomed back Jelena Jankovic (#22 in '12), while the likes of Svetlana Kuznetsova and Andrea Petkovic both returned to the Top 50 after big falls while dealing with injuries. Well, injuries and whatever it is that tends to go on between Sveta'a ears on occasion..
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While players such as Kimiko Date-Krumm (#146 to #54), Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Virginie Razzano all returned to the Top 100 in 2013, the proverbial worm turned the other way for many other "name" players, including no-longer-Top-100ers Heather Watson, Tsvetana Pironkova, Tamira Paszek, Vera Zvonareva and Iveta Benesova, the latter two of which didn't play a match this season. The most disappointing slip, though, maybe have come because of an injury-marred follow-up to a great resurgent season from one of Backspin's long-time favorites, Nadia Petrova. After the Russian won three tournaments and finished at #12 in 2012, she was absent from the court for long stretches in 2013 and fell all the way down to #102.

Oh, Nadia.
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One year after being the youngest player in the Top 200, #86 Donna Vekic, 17, is now the youngest in the Top 100. Oh, and she's still the youngest in the Top 200, as well. But more are coming. Not far behind are a crew of even younger junior achievers who are already slipping into some professional draws and having success. The four junior slam crowns were split between current girls #1 Belinda Bencic and #2 Ana Konjuh. Both are younger than Vekic -- WTA #212 Bencic is 16, while #274 Konjuh won't turn 16 until December 27 -- and moving up the professional ranking ladder rather quickly, as well. The only other 17-year olds in the Top 200 are #168 Vicky Duval, who'll turn 18 later this month, and #164 Ashleigh Barty, just two months older than Vekic. Four more join Bencic & Konjuh with rankings between #201-300. In all, seven teenagers are ranked in the Top 100 (four of them in the Top 50, including Laura Robson, who will finally turn 20 this January), while fourteen more are included in the Top 200. Of note, hidden in there is something rare these days -- a living-and-breathing South American 17-year old tennis player, Brazil's Beatriz Haddad Maia.

A bit higher up in the rankings, 20-year old #12 Sloane Stephens is the youngest player in the Top 20, while fellow Bannerette Madison Keys (#37), 18, is the youngest in the Top 50.

After slipping out of the year-end Top 100 in '12, 43-year old Kimiko Date-Krumm is back and at #54 for 2013. So, once again, the Japanese vet is, of course, the oldest player in the Top 100 and, naturally -- at least I would expect so -- the oldest in all of the WTA rankings. As it is, the number of players born in the 1970's in the Top 200 is now down to two, KDK and 34-year old Catalina Castano (#196). The oldest non-KDK players in the Top 100 are 33-year olds Venus Williams (#49) and Francesca Schiavone (#42), the latter being the most senior tour singles champion in 2013. #1 Serena, at 32, is the fifth-oldest in the Top 100.

*YOUNGEST PLAYER - end of '13 season*
[Top 100]
17...Donna Vekic, CRO (born June 28, 1996)
18...Madison Keys, USA (born February 17, 1995)
19...Anna Schmiedlova, SVK (born September 13, 1994)
19...Elina Svitolina, UKR (born September 12, 1994)
19...Eugenie Bouchard, CAN (born February 25, 1994)
19...Annika Beck, GER (born February 16, 1994)
19...Laura Robson, GBR (born January 21, 1994)
20...Caroline Garcia, FRA (born October 16, 1993)
20...Lauren Davis, USA (born October 9, 1993)
20...Garbine Muguruza, ESP (born October 8, 1993)
20...Monica Puig, PUR (born September 27, 1993)
20...Jana Cepelova, SVK (born May 29, 1993)
20...Kristina Mladenovic, FRA (born May 14, 1993)
20...Timea Babos, HUN (born May 10, 1993)
20...Ajla Tomljanovic, CRO (born May 7, 1993)
20...Sloane Stephens, USA (born March 20, 1993)
[#101-200]
17...Ashleigh Barty, AUS (born April 24, 1996)
18...Vicky Duval, USA (born November 30, 1995) - at end of calendar year
18...Sachia Vickery, USA (born May 11, 1995)
18...Yulia Putintseva, KAZ (born January 7, 1995)
19...Danka Kovinic, MNE (born November 18, 1994)
19...Ons Jabeur, TUN (born August 28, 1994)
19...Grace Min, USA (born May 6, 1994)
19...Risa Ozaki, JPN (born April 10, 1994)
19...Alison Van Uytvanck, BEL (born March 26, 1994)
19...Aliaksandra Sasnovich, BLR (born March 22, 1994)
19...An-Sophie Mestach, BEL (born March 7, 1994)
19...Daria Gavrilova, RUS (born March 5, 1994)
19...Zheng Saisai, CHN (born February 5, 1994)
19...Anna-Lena Friedsam, GER (born February 1, 1994)

*OLDEST PLAYER - end of '13 season*
[Top 100]
43...Kimiko Date-Krumm, JPN (born September 28, 1970)
33...Venus Williams, USA (born June 17, 1980)
33...Francesca Schiavone, ITA (born June 23, 1980)
32...Lourdes Dominguez-Lino, ESP (born March 31, 1981)
32...Serena Williams, USA (born September 8, 1981)
31...Klara Zakopalova, CZE (born February 24, 1982)
31...Flavia Pennetta, ITA (born February 25, 1982)
31...Li Na, CHN (born February 26, 1982)
31...Anabel Medina-Garrigues, ESP (born July 31, 1982)
30...Roberta Vinci, ITA (born February 18, 1983)
30...Daniela Hantuchova, SVK (born April 23, 1983)
30...Virginie Razzano, FRA (born May 12, 1983)
30...Zheng Jie, CHN (born July 5, 1983)
30...Yvonne Meusburger, AUT (born October 3, 1983)
[#101-200]
34...Catalina Castano, COL (born July 7, 1979)
32...Stephanie Foretz-Gacon, FRA (born May 3, 1981)
31...Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, CRO (born March 9, 1982)
31...Anastasia Rodionova, AUS (born March 12, 1982)
31...Nadia Petrova, RUS (born June 8, 1982)
31...Eleni Daniilidou, GRE (born September 19, 1982)
31...Julie Coin, FRA (born December 2, 1982) - at end of calendar year
30...Renata Voracova, CZE (born October 6, 1983)
30...Yuliya Beygelzimer, UKR (born October 20, 1983)

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While nine of last year's Top 10 players finished there again in 2013, a few have put together even longer streaks. Four -- Li, Sharapova, A.Radwanska and Kvitova -- have had three straight Top 10 seasons, while Azarenka and Wozniacki are currently enjoying five year runs. Azarenka, in fact, has had back-to-back-to-back Top 3 campaigns (Serena has two), while Sharapova (3) and Radwanska (2) have also been consistent enough to have multiple Top 5 finishes. Stosur, the only 2012 Top 10er to not finish there this year, had her three-year run snapped with her #18 ranking this year. Meanwhile, Top 10 returnee Jelena Jankovic (out since 2010) had her fifth career finish there in '13, which is nice but no match for Serena Williams, who just enjoyed the twelfth in the career.
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Before she retired, Marion Bartoli experienced a new career high point when she won Wimbledon. But, somewhat ironically, her career bio will forever hint that, on the whole, she had a WORSE season than in '12, as she fell from #11 to #13 in the rankings. But La Trufflette wasn't the only player to put up big or resurgent results that weren't necessarily reflected in their year-end rankings:

Maria Kirilenko: became the first Russian to debut in the Top 10 in six years, but saw her ranking ultimately slip from #14 to #19
Lucie Safarova: won her first tour singles title (Quebec City) in over five years, but fell from #17 to #29
Daniela Hantuchova: the Slovak won her first career grass title in Birmingham, but still dropped ever so slightly from #32 to #33
Andrea Hlavackova: reached her first career tour singles final in Bad Gastein, but went from #65 to #134 in the span of a year
Shahar Peer: she reached her first tour final in two years, and won the WTA 125 Challenger in Suzhou, but neither prevented her from going from #74 to #77
Mandy Minella: she entered '13 with just one career tour semifinal, but reached two this season. She entered as #75, but exited as #115.
Camila Giorgi: while the feisty Italian was a player to keep an eye on at the end of 2012 -- and her winning run to the U.S. Open Round of 16 showed why -- Giorgi's year-end ranking went from #79 last year to #93 this time around

On the other hand, some players seemed to have less impact this past season than last, although their rankings managed to rise. Some good examples:

Virginie Razzano: she made headlines with her upset of Serena at Roland Garros in '12. She had no such "moment" in '13, but lifted her ranking from #160 to #96.
Vania King: before her appearance in this year's Guangzhou final, King hasn't reached a tour singles final since she won in Bangkok in 2006. Her year-end ranking fell from #70 to #84, though.
Laura Robson: the Brit was the WTA's "Newcomer of the Year" award winner last year, went 34-25 and became the first woman from her nation to reach a tour final since 1990. In 2013 she failed to reach a singles semi, and finished with an 18-22 record. But, somehow, she went from a season-ending #53 to #46.

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Huge cracks are showing in Russian tennis, and not just when it comes to the relationship between the sport's national federation and potential Fed Cup participants, either. While the Russian numbers in the WTA field are still strong, their high-level impact continues to show wear-and-tear as the NextGen Hordette stars (version 1.0) have still yet to properly follow up the heroics of the "Revolution Generation" in the 2000's. A few of the "originals" are still around, but while Maria Sharapova reached a slam final and finished in the Top 5, she somehow seemed more and more "fallible" as the season progressed, and played just one post-Wimbledon match due to hip and shoulder injuries. Meanwhile, Vera Zvonareva sat out the entire season recovering from her own shoulder injury, and one season after flirting with the Top 10, Nadia Petrova was dumped out of the Top 100 in an injury-marred campaign.

Additionally, after dominating the Top 100 rankings for many seasons, the field isn't as (over)populated by Russians as it used to be. Three years ago, there were sixteen Hordettes in the Top 100. Last year, the U.S. managed to tie Russia with the most players (10) in the Top 100. Then, this year, the bottom dropped out... only six Russians are ranked in the Top 100, good enough to only tie for fourth with Italy on the nations list behind the U.S. (11), Spain (7) & Germany (7). While six Hordettes finished in the Top 20 in 2009, five did in 2010, then four each did so in 2011 and 2012. This year, there were two. For the second straight year, Sharapova is the only Russian in the Top 10. Also, after leading outright or being tied for the most tour singles finalists for every year since the revolutionary season of 2004, the Russians slipped to second place behind the U.S.'s sixteen in '13, with the season total of thirteen finalists being the lowest total by the Hordettes as a group since 2001. It all sort of went hand-in-hand with the end of the Russians' impressive streak of placing at least one player in the Round of 16 at fifty one straight slams, a run that began at Wimbledon in 2000, then ended at SW19 this summer.

But, still, there were some Russian ranking highlights in 2013. Alisa Kleybanova's comeback begin to take off with a Top 200 finish, while Svetlana Kuznetsova rode back-to-back slam quarterfinal results as an unseeded player (becoming the first to do that since the slams when to 32-seeds in 2001) to a near Top 20 finish at #21. Meanwhile, after going 0-6 in tour finals and finishing in the Top 40 just one previous time in her career, Elena Vesnina won two titles and clocked in at #25, one spot below doubles partner Ekaterina Makarova (#24) and one above two-time '13 title-winner Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (#26).

Oh, and the four different singles champions this year -- Sharapova, Kirilenko, Vesnina & Pavlyuchenkova -- were the most by any nation. So, at least there's that.
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In a ranking oddity, no Russians ended the season ranked from #27 to #101. Why that's a hole you could drive a fleet of Soviet tanks through. Sorry, old Cold War era joke. Speaking of...
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As the Russian numbers have slipped, those of the Bannerettes have taken up the slack. The tour-leading number of twelve Americans in the year-ending Top 100 is the continuation of the resurgent fortunes of U.S. women's tennis. American Top 100 numbers have nearly doubled in just two seasons, with half of those players being young twentysomethings or teenagers... and that's not even counting on-the-rise U.S. Open star Vicky Duval (#168).
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The number of nations with players in the Top 100 seems to have reached its limit, or nearly so. The last three season-ending rankings have included players from thirty-seven nations in '11, then thirty-six in both 2012 and again this year. Twenty-three countries are included in 2013's Top 50.

Also, for the second straight season, the Top 11 was actually made up of women from eleven different nations. While fourteen different countries were represented in last year's Top 20, fifteen were included in the WTA this year.
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The top four ranked players representing Kazakhstan all formerly played under either the Russian or Bulgarian flags. Last year, the same could be said for the top five-ranked Kazakhs, but after playing under the flag of Kazakhstan from 2011-12, Moscow-born Ksenia Pervak realigned herself with Russia in the summer of 2013. If she still had "KAZ" next to her name in the WTA rankings, though, the world #165 would have been the sixth highest-ranking woman from Kazakhstan this year.
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Carla Suarez-Navarro's twenty-six events were the most by any player ranked in the Top 20 (last year's leader, Roberta Vinci, was next with twenty-five in '13). Nine Top 100 women surpassed CSN's event total, led by Karolina Pliskova's thirty-six. Meanwhile, Julia Cohen continues to be the workhorse of women's tennis, leading all Top 200 players in events for the fourth straight season. In succession, the 24-year old American has played thirty-six, forty, thirty-nine and thirty-eight events from 2010-13. After failing to defend her '12 Baku final points, though, Cohen saw her year-end ranking slip from #113 to #186.
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At the end of 2009, twelve players rose into the Top 50 after having finished the previous year ranked outside the Top 100. In 2010, only two did it, while from 2011-12 the doors were opened to six women in each season. In 2013, there were eight who made the climb: #32 Eugenie Bouchard, #37 Madison Keys, #39 Andrea Petkovic, #40 Elina Svitolina, #41 Karin Knapp, #44 Stefanie Voegele, #47 Bethanie Mattek-Sands and #50 Yvonne Meusburger.
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For two years running, Stephanie Foretz-Gacon was the player with her nose pressed up against the Top 100 glass, finishing #101. Well, the Pastry didn't make the leap in 2013, and instead slipped to #159. The new #101: Colombia's Mariana Duque-Marino




[based on November 4 end-of-season WTA rankings]
*TOP 20 BY AGE*
[at of end of 2013]
32...Serena Williams
31...Li Na
30...Roberta Vinci
29...Samantha Stosur
29...Marion Bartoli
28...Jelena Jankovic
27...Kirsten Flipkens
26...Maria Kirilenko
26...Maria Sharapova
26...Sara Errani
26...Ana Ivanovic
25...Angelique Kerber
25...Carla Suarez-Navarro
24...Agnieszka Radwanska
24...Victoria Azarenka
24...Sabine Lisicki
23...Petra Kvitova
23...Caroline Wozniacki
22...Simona Halep
20...Sloane Stephens

*TOP 20 BY NATION*
2...GER (Kerber, Lisicki)
2...ITA (Errani, Vinci)
2...RUS (Kirilenko, Sharapova)
2...SRB (Ivanovic, Jankovic)
2...USA (Stephens, S.Williams)
1...CZE (Kvitova)
1...AUS (Stosur)
1...BEL (Flipkens)
1...BLR (Azarenka)
1...CHN (Li)
1...DEN (Wozniacki)
1...ESP (Suarez-Navarro)
1...FRA (Bartoli)
1...POL (A.Radwanska)
1...ROU (Halep)

*TOP 20 BY CAREER TITLES*
57...Serena Williams
29...Maria Sharapova
21...Caroline Wozniacki
17...Victoria Azarenka
13...Jelena Jankovic
13...Agnieszka Radwanska
11...Ana Ivanovic
11...Petra Kvitova
9...Roberta Vinci
8...Marion Bartoli
7...Sara Errani
7...Li Na
6...Simona Halep
6...Maria Kirilenko
5...Samantha Stosur
3...Angelique Kerber
3...Sabine Lisicki
1...Kirsten Flipkens
0...Sloane Stephens
0...Carla Suarez-Navarro

*TOP 100 FACTS*
=HIGHEST-RANKED PLAYER WITHOUT A CAREER WTA SINGLES TITLE=
2007 Victoria Azarenka, BLR * (2009)
2008 Victoria Azarenka, BLR * (2009)
2009 Alla Kudryavtseva, RUS * (2010)
2010 Dominika Cibulkova, SVK * (2011)
2011 Peng Shuai, CHN
2012 Varvara Lepchenko, USA
2013 Sloane Stephens, USA
-
* - has since won first title
-----------------------------
*TOP 50 PLAYERS WITHOUT TITLES*
#12 Sloane Stephens, USA
#17 Carla Suarez-Navarro, ESP
#28 Jamie Hampton, USA
#32 Eugenie Bouchard, CAN
#37 Madison Keys, CAN
#41 Karin Knapp, ITA
#43 Urszula Radwanska, POL
#44 Stefanie Voegele, SUI
#45 Peng Shuai, CHN
#46 Laura Robson, GBR
#47 Bethanie Mattek-Sands, USA
-----------------------------
*TOP 50 PLAYERS WITHOUT TOUR FINALS*
#12 Sloane Stephens, USA
#37 Madison Keys, USA
#44 Stefanie Voegele, SUI
-----------------------------
NEW PLAYERS IN THE TOP 100 (since end of '12 season - Nov. 5, 2012): 27
2012 newbies: 29
2011 newbies: 31
2010 newbies: 23
2009 newbies: 28
2008 newbies: 34
2007 newbies: 33
-----------------------------
TOP 100 NEWBIES ('12 rank):
#32 Eugenie Bouchard, CAN (#144)
#37 Madison Keys, USA (#149)
#39 Andrea Petkovic, GER (#39)
#40 Elina Svitolina, UKR (#155)
#41 Karin Knapp, ITA (#123)
#44 Stefanie Voegele, SUI (#113)
#47 Bethanie Mattek-Sands, USA (#173)
#50 Yvonne Meusburger, AUT (#129)
#51 Zhang Shuai, CHN (#122)
#54 Kimiko Date-Krumm, JPN (#146)
#55 Monica Puig, PUR (#127)
#57 Alison Riske, USA (#179)
#63 Paula Ormaechea, ARG (#136)
#64 Garbine Muguruza, ESP (#104)
#67 Karolina Pliskova, CZE (#120)
#70 Lesia Tsurenko, UKR (#102)
#74 Anna Schmiedlova, SVK (#212)
#75 Caroline Garcia, FRA (#138)
#76 Kurumi Nara, JPN (#157)
#78 Ajla Tomljanovic, CRO (#453)
#86 Donna Vekic, CRO (#118)
#90 Teliana Pereira, BRA (#175)
#91 Julia Glushko, ISR (#170)
#94 Jana Cepelova, SVK (#107)
#96 Virginie Razzano, FRA (#160)
#98 Dinah Pfizenmaier, GER (#158)
#99 Patricia Mayr-Achleitner, AUT (#164)
-----------------------------
*SMALLEST 2012-to-2013 RANKING CHANGES IN TOP 100*
0...Caroline Wozniacki (10/10)
0...Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova (92/92)
+1...Silvia Soler-Espinosa (83/82)
-1...Victoria Azarenka (1/2)
-1...Agnieszka Radwanska (4/5)
-1...Sara Errani (6/7)
-1...Daniela Hantuchova (32/33)
+2...Serena Williams (3/1)
+2...Petra Kvitova (8/6)
+2...Roberta Vinci (16/14)
-2...Maria Sharapova (2/4)
-2...Marion Bartoli (11/13)
-2...Monica Niculescu (58/60)
-----------------------------
*COMEBACK RANKINGS OF NOTE*
#8 Jelena Jankovic, SRB
#20 Kirsten Flipkens, BEL
#21 Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS
#31 Flavia Pennetta, ITA
#39 Andrea Petkovic, GER
#47 Bethanie Mattek-Sands, USA
#54 Kimiko Date-Krumm, JPN
#120 Vera Dushevina, RUS
#157 Alexandra Dulgheru, ROU
#185 Alisa Kleybanova, RUS
#196 Catalina Castano, COL
#232 Jarmila Gajdosova, AUS
#468 Evgeniya Rodina, RUS
-----------------------------
*NextGen RANKINGS OF NOTE*
#11 Simona Halep, ROU
#12 Sloane Stephens, USA
#28 Jamie Hampton, USA
#32 Eugenie Bouchard, CAN
#37 Madison Keys, USA
#40 Elina Svitolina, UKR
#46 Laura Robson, GBR
#55 Monica Puig, PUR
#56 Kristina Mladenovic, FRA
#57 Alison Riske, USA
#58 Annika Beck, GER
#64 Garbine Muguruza, ESP
#67 Karolina Pliskova, CZE
#68 Christina McHale, USA
#70 Lesia Tsurenko, UKR
#72 Lauren Davis, USA
#74 Anna Schmiedlova, UKR
#76 Kurumi Nara, JPN
#78 Ajla Tomljanovic, CRO
#86 Donna Vekic, CRO
#93 Camila Giorgi, ITA
#106 Sharon Fichman, CAN
#109 Michelle Larcher de Brito, POR
#112 Johanna Konta, GBR
#117 Maryna Zanevska, UKR
#119 Heather Watson, GBR
#121 Kristyna Pliskova, CZE
#123 Shelby Rogers, USA
#129 Alison Van Uytvanck, BEL
#135 Aliaksandra Sasnovich, BLR
#138 An-Sophie Mestash, BEL
#139 Ons Jabeur, TUN
#141 Mallory Burdette, USA
#144 Daria Gavrilova, RUS
#145 Aleksandra Krunic, SRB
#146 Irina Falconi, USA
#151 Grace Min, USA
#152 Zheng Saisai, CHN
#163 Zarina Diyas, KAZ
#164 Ashleigh Barty, AUS
#165 Ksenia Pervak, RUS
#167 Jovana Jaksic, SRB
#168 Vicky Duval, USA
#178 Richel Hogenkamp, NED
#183 Channel Simmonds, RSA
#184 Nicole Gibbs, USA
#190 Sachia Vickery, USA
#195 Sachie Ishizu, JPN
#206 Olivia Rogowska, AUS
#209 Victoria Kan, RUS
#210 Carina Witthoeft, GER
#211 Katerina Siniakova, CZE
#212 Belinda Bencic, SUI
#213 Cristina Dinu, ROU
#217 Wang Qiang, CHN
#227 Mayo Hibi, JPN
#228 Anett Kontaveit, EST
#230 Noppawan Lertcheewakarn, THA
#238 Gabriela Dabrowski, CAN
#249 Irina Khromacheva, RUS
#255 Allie Kiick, USA
#272 Indy De Vroome, NED
#274 Ana Konjuh, CRO
#277 Basak Eraydin, TUR
#298 Beatriz Haddad Maia, BRA
#308 Taylor Townsend, USA
#310 Samantha Crawford, USA
#312 Louisa Chirico, USA
#321 Ysaline Bonaventure, BEL
#329 Sara Sorribes Tormo, ESP
#358 Allie Will, USA
#362 Anna Morgina, RUS
#374 Marcela Zacarius, MEX
#376 Barbora Krejcikova, CZE
#389 Antonia Lottner, GER
#391 Jamie Loeb, USA
#440 Rebecca Peterson, SWE
#447 Carol Zhao, CAN
#457 Ipek Soylu, TUR
#459 Anna Danilina, KAZ
#503 Varvara Flink, RUS
#510 Ximena Hermoso, MEX
#561 Anhelina Kalinina, UKR
#563 Francoise Abanda, CAN
#576 Danielle Lao, USA
#577 Elise Mertens, BEL
#591 Brooke Austin, USA
#611 Victoria Rodriguez, MEX
#624 Jasmine Paolini, ITA
#672 Jelena Ostapenko, LAT
#862 Renata Zarazua, MEX
#954 Tornado Alicia Black, USA
#954 Ines Ibbou, ALG
#1019 Harriet Dart, GBR
#1044 Jana Fett, CRO
-----------------------------
*SISTERS*
#1 Serena Williams, #49 Venus Williams (USA)
#5 Agnieszka Radwanska, #43 Urszula Radwanska (POL)
#13 (d) Cara Black, (ATP-retired) Byron & Wayne Black (ZIM)
#67 Kristyna Pliskova, #121 Karolina Pliskova (CZE)
#74 Anna Schmiedlova, (NR/jr.) Kristina Schmiedlova (SVK)
#85 Hsieh Su-Wei, #1109 Hsieh Shu-Ying (TPE)
#107 Nadiya Kichenok, #187 Lyudmyla Kichenok (UKR)
#154 Kristina Kucova, (NR) Zuzana Kucova (SVK)
#161 Anastasia Rodionova, #201 Arina Rodionova (AUS/RUS)
#180 Erika Sema, #203 Yurika Sema (JPN)
#248 Chan Yung-Jan, #1195 Chan Hao-Ching (TPE)
#268 Varatchaya Wongteanchi, #742 Varunya Wongteanchi (THA)
#275 Michaella Krajicek, (ATP-retired) Richard Krajicek (NED)
#390 Lu Jia-Jing, #743 Lu Jia-Xiang (CHN)
#451 Olga Ianchuk, #863 Elizaveta Ianchuk (UKR)
#485 Chalena Scholl, #536 ChiChi Scholl (USA)
#563 Francoise Abanda, (NR) Elisabeth Abanda (CAN)
#615 Hulya Esen, (NR) Lutfiye Esen (TUR)
#954 Tornado Alicia Black, (NR) Hurricane Black (USA/jr.)
#1043 Jessica Ren, (NR) Jennifer Ren (GBR)
#1150 Flavia Guimaraes Bueno, (NR) Marcela Guimaraes Bueno (BRA)
(NR/jr.) Sara Tomic, (ATP) Bernard Tomic (AUS)
-----------------------------

*TOP 100 BY NATION*
(w/ # in 2012)
11...United States (10)
7...Germany (5)
7...Spain (6)
6...Italy (5)
6...Russia (10)
5...Czech Republic (8)
5...France (5)
5...Slovak Republic (3)
4...China (3)
4...Japan (2)
4...Romania (5)
3...Serbia (3)
2...Austria (1)
2...Belarus (2)
2...Belgium (2)
2...Croatia (1)
2...Israel (1)
2...Kazakhstan (3)
2...Poland (2)
2...Switzerland (1)
2...Ukraine (0)
1...Argentina (0)
1...Australia (2)
1...Brazil (0)
1...Canada (1)
1...Denmark (1)
1...Estonia (1)
1...Great Britain (2)
1...Hungary (2)
1...Netherlands (2)
1...New Zealand (1)
1...Puerto Rico (0)
1...Slovenia (1)
1...South Africa (1)
1...Sweden (2)
1...Taiwan (2)
--
2012 TOP 100, NONE in 2013: Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Luxembourg

*REGIONAL RANKINGS*
==EASTERN EUROPE==
#2 Victoria Azarenka, BLR
#4 Maria Sharapova, RUS
#11 Simona Halep, ROU
#19 Maria Kirilenko, RUS
#21 Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS
#22 Sorana Cirstea, ROU
#24 Ekaterina Makarova, RUS
#25 Elena Vesnina, RUS
#26 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, RUS
#30 Kaia Kanepi, EST
==WESTERN EUROPE==
#5 Agnieszka Radwanska, POL
#6 Petra Kvitova, CZE
#7 Sara Errani, ITA
#8 Jelena Jankovic, SRB
#9 Angelique Kerber, GER
#10 Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
#13 Marion Bartoli, FRA
#14 Roberta Vinci, ITA
#15 Sabine Lisicki, GER
#16 Ana Ivanovic, SRB
#17 Carla Suarez-Navarro, ESP
==ASIA/PACIFIC==
#3 Li Na, CHN
#18 Samantha Stosur, AUS
#45 Peng Shuai, CHN
#48 Marina Erakovic, NZL
#51 Zhang Shuai, CHN
#52 Zheng Jie, CHN
#54 Kimiko Date-Krumm, JPN
#61 Ayumi Morita, JPN
#69 Galina Voskoboeva, KAZ
#76 Kurumi Nara, JPN
==SOUTH AMERICA==
#63 Paula Ormaechea, ARG
#90 Teliana Pereira, BRA
#101 Mariana Duque-Marino, COL
#191 Maria Irigoyen, ARG
#196 Catalina Castano, COL
#197 Florencia Molinero, ARG
#208 Veronica Cepede Royg, PAR
#243 Adriana Perez, VEN
#271 Paula Cristina Goncalves, BRA
#288 Beatriz Haddad Maia, BRA
==UNITED STATES==
#1 Serena Williams
#12 Sloane Stephens
#28 Jamie Hampton
#37 Madison Keys
#47 Bethanie Mattek-Sands
#49 Venus Williams
#53 Varvara Lepchenko
#57 Alison Riske
#68 Christina McHale
#72 Lauren Davis
==NON-U.S. NORTH AMERICA/ATLANTIC==
#32 Eugenie Bouchard, CAN
#55 Monica Puig, PUR
#106 Sharon Fichman, CAN
#200 Stephanie Dubois, CAN
#238 Gabriela Dabrowski, CAN
#280 Aleksandra Wozniak, CAN
#372 Ana Sofia Sanchez, MEX
#374 Marcela Zacarius, MEX
#382 Heidi El Tabakh, CAN
#447 Carol Zhou, CAN
==AFRICA/MIDDLE EAST==
#77 Shahar Peer, ISR
#80 Chanelle Scheepers, RSA
#91 Julia Glushko, ISR
#139 Ons Jabeur, TUN
#149 Cagla Buyukakcay, TUR
#183 Chanel Simmonds, RSA
#215 Pemra Ozgen, TUR
#277 Basak Eraydin, TUR
#317 Deniz Khazaniuk, ISR
#342 Melis Sezer, TUR

[SCANDINAVIA]
#10 Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
#83 Johanna Larsson, SWE
#118 Sofia Arvidsson, SWE
#368 Ulrikke Eikeri, NOR
#440 Rebecca Peterson, SWE
#455 Ellen Allgurin, SWE
#475 Hilda Melander, SWE
#521 Susanne Celik, SWE
#570 Sandra Roma, SWE
#607 Karen Barbat, DEN

*REVOLUTION CHECKS*
==RUSSIA==
#4 Maria Sharapova
#19 Maria Kirilenko
#21 Svetlana Kuznetsova
#24 Ekaterina Makarova
#25 Elena Vesnina
#26 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
#102 Nadia Petrova
#120 Vera Dushevina
#133 Olga Puchkova
#137 Nina Bratchikova
==CHINA==
#3 Li Na
#45 Peng Shuai
#151 Zhang Shuai
#52 Zheng Jie
#155 Zhou Yi-Miao
#162 Zheng Saisai
#173 Duan Ying-Ying
#217 Wang Qiang
#296 Zhang Yuxuan
#301 Lu Fangzhou
==ROMANIA==
#11 Simona Halep
#22 Sorana Cirstea
#60 Monica Niculescu
#62 Alexandra Cadantu
#124 Irina-Camelia Begu
#157 Alexandra Dulgheru
#179 Andreea Mitu
#213 Cristina Dinu
#314 Ana Bogdan
#357 Laura Ioana Andrei
==CZECH REPUBLIC==
#6 Petra Kvitova
#29 Lucie Safarova
#35 Klara Zakopalova
#67 Karolina Pliskova
#92 Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova
#121 Kristyna Pliskova
#132 Petra Cetkovska
#134 Andrea Hlavackova
#150 Lucie Hradecka
#192 Eva Birnerova
==GERMANY==
#4 Angelique Kerber
#15 Sabine Lisicki
#34 Mona Barthel
#39 Andrea Petkovic
#58 Annika Beck
#73 Julia Goerges
#98 Dinah Pfizenmeier
#126 Anna-Lena Friedsam
#210 Carina Witthoeft
#229 Anne Schaefer
==AUSTRALIA==
#18 Samantha Stosur
#130 Casey Dellacqua
#161 Anastasia Rodionova
#164 Ashleigh Barty
#166 Olivia Rogowska
#232 Jarmila Gajdosova
#242 Storm Sanders
#278 Monique Adamczak
#282 Viktoriya Rajicic
#287 Sacha Jones
#304 Tammi Patterson
==ITALY==
#7 Sara Errani
#14 Roberta Vinci
#31 Flavia Pennetta
#41 Karin Knapp
#42 Francesca Schiavone
#93 Camila Giorgi
#169 Nastassja Burnett
#202 Alberta Brianti
#237 Maria Elena Camerin
#246 Giulia Gatto-Monticone
==FRANCE==
#13 Marion Bartoli
#27 Alize Cornet
#56 Kristina Mladenovic
#75 Caroline Garcia
#96 Virginie Razzano
#128 Claire Feuerstein
#136 Mathilde Johansson
#156 Julie Coin
#158 Alize Lim
#159 Stephanie Foretz-Gacon
==GREAT BRITAIN==
#46 Laura Robson
#112 Johanna Konta
#119 Heather Watson
#199 Samantha Murray
#216 Tara Moore
#220 Elena Baltacha
#256 Naomo Broady
#300 Jade Windley
#306 Amanda Carreras
#326 Lisa Whybourn
==SPAIN==
#17 Carla Suarez-Navarro
#64 Garbine Muguruza
#65 Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor
#71 Lourdes Dominguez-Lino
#82 Silvia Soler-Espinosa
#97 Anabel Medina-Garrigues
#100 Lara Arruabarrena
#111 Estrella Cabeza-Candela
#219 Arantxa Parra-Santonja
#236 Beatriz Garcia Vidagany
==JAPAN==
#54 Kimiko Date-Krumm
#61 Ayumi Morita
#76 Kurumi Nara
#89 Misaki Doi
#180 Erika Sema
#188 Risa Ozaki
#195 Sachie Ishizu
#203 Yurika Sema
#218 Eri Hozumi
#227 Mayo Hibi
==SERBIA==
#8 Jelena Jankovic
#16 Ana Ivanovic
#36 Bojana Jovanovski
#103 Vesna Dolonts
#145 Aleksandra Krunic
#167 Jovana Jaksic
#234 Doroteja Eric
==KAZAKHSTAN==
#69 Galina Voskoboeva
#81 Yaroslava Shvedova
#105 Yulia Putintseva
#142 Sesil Karatantcheva
#163 Zarina Diyas
#459 Anna Danilina
#460 Kamila Kerimbayeva
==SLOVAK REPUBLIC==
#23 Dominika Cibulkova
#33 Daniela Hantuchova
#38 Magdalena Rybarikova
#74 Anna Schmiedlova
#94 Jana Cepelova
#154 Kristina Kucova
#266 Michaela Honcova
#316 Zuzana Zlochova
#412 Chantal Skamlova
#416 Petra Uberalova
==UKRAINE==
#40 Elina Svitolina
#70 Lesia Tsurenko
#107 Nadiya Kichenok
#117 Maryna Zanevska
#172 Yuliya Beygelzimer
#175 Olga Savchuk
#187 Lyudmyla Kichenok
#204 Kateryna Kozlova
#221 Anastasiya Vasylyeva
#231 Valentyna Ivakhnenko
==BELGIUM==
#20 Kirsten Flipkens
#59 Yanina Wickmayer
#129 Alison Van Uytvanck
#138 An-Sophie Mestach
#321 Ysaline Bonaventure
#467 Marie Benoit
#577 Elise Mertens
#583 Klaartje Liebens
==ARGENTINA==
#63 Paula Ormaechea
#191 Maria Irigoyen
#197 Florencia Molinero
#322 Vanessa Furlanetto
#355 Catalina Pella
#415 Carolina Zeballos
#449 Victoria Bosio
#453 Andrea Benitez
#490 Tatiana Bua
#559 Mailen Auroux
==NETHERLANDS==
#87 Kiki Bertens
#160 Arantxa Rus
#178 Richel Hogenkamp
#251 Lesley Kerkhove
#272 Indy De Vroome
#275 Michaella Krajicek
#298 Cindy Burger
#328 Angelique Van Der Meet
==AUSTRIA==
#50 Yvonne Meusburger
#99 Patricia Mayr-Achleitner
#177 Melanie Klaffner
#181 Tamira Paszek
#324 Lisa-Maria Moser
==TAIWAN==
#85 Hsieh Su-Wei
#248 Chan Yung-Jan
#325 Chan Chin-Wei
#433 Lee Pei-Chi
#442 Lee Ya-Hsuan

*RUSSIAN RESULTS ON THE WTA TOUR*
2001...0 titles, 3 RU, 6 SF
2002...6 titles, 8 RU, 11 SF
2003...11 titles, 4 RU, 20 SF
2004...15 titles, 18 RU, 30 SF
2005...9 titles, 8 RU, 36 SF
2006...19 titles, 15 RU, 30 SF
2007...12 titles, 15 RU, 26 SF
2008...18 titles, 20 RU, 21 SF
2009...13 titles, 13 RU, 19 SF
2010...13 titles, 16 RU, 14 SF
2011...7 titles, 7 RU, 18 SF
2012...6 titles, 11 RU, 9 SF
2013...7 titles, 6 RU, 10 SF

*BIGGEST RISES IN THE RANKINGS*
=end of '12 to end of '13=
[in 2013 Top 25]
+51...Svetlana Kuznetsova (#72 to #21)
+44...Elena Vesnina (#69 to #25)
+36...Simona Halep (#47 to #11)
+34...Kirsten Flipkens (#54 to #20)
+26...Sloane Stephens (#38 to #12)
+22...Sabine Lisicki (#37 to #15)
+17...Carla Suarez-Navarro (#34 to #17)
+14...Jelena Jankovic (#22 to #8)
[2013 Top 26-50]
+126...Bethanie Mattek-Sands (#173 to #47)
+116...Elina Svitolina (#156 to #40)
+112...Eugenie Bouchard (#144 to #32)
+112...Madison Keys (#149 to #37)
+104...Andrea Petkovic (#143 to #39)
+82...Karin Knapp (#123 to #41)
+79...Yvonne Meusburger (#129 to #50)
+68...Peng Shuai (#113 to #45)
+43...Jamie Hampton (#71 to #28)
+24...Magdalena Rybarikova (#62 to #38)
+20...Bojana Jovanovski (#56 to #36)
[2013 Top 51-100]
+375...Ajla Tomljanovic (#453 to #78)
+138...Anna Schmiedlova (#212 to #74)
+122...Alison Riske (#179 to #57)
+92...Kimiko Date-Krumm (#146 to #54)
+85...Teliana Pereira (#175 to #90)
+81...Kurumi Nara (#157 to #76)
+79...Julia Glushko (#170 to #91)
+73...Paula Ormaechea (#136 to #63)
+72...Monica Puig (#127 to #55)
+71...Zhang Shuai (#122 to #51)
+65...Patricia Mayr-Achleitner (#164 to #99)
+64...Virginie Razzano (#160 to #96)
+63...Caroline Garcia (#138 to #75)
+60...Dinah Pfizenmaier (#158 to #98)
+53...Karolina Pliskova (#120 to #67)

*BIGGEST FALLS IN THE RANKINGS*
=end of '12 to end of '13=
[2012 Top 25]
-80...Nadia Petrova (#12 to #102)
-60...Hsieh Su-Wei (#25 to #85)
-55...Julia Goerges (#18 to #73)
-36...Yanina Wickmayer (#23 to #59)
-32...Varvara Lepchenko (#21 to #53)
-12...Lucie Safarova (#17 to #29)
[2012 Top 26-50]
-237...Aleksandra Wozniak (#43 to #280)
-151...Tamira Paszek (#30 to #181)
-104...Lucie Hradecka (#46 to #150)
-77...Sofia Arvidsson (#41 to #118)
-70...Heather Watson (#49 to #119)
-66...Tsvetana Pironkova (#42 to #108)
-52...Yaroslava Shvedova (#29 to #81)
-47...Anabel Medina-Garrigues (#50 to #97)
-35...Christina McHale (#33 to #68)
-26...Zheng Jie (#26 to #52)
-25...Venus Williams (#24 to #49)
-23...Lourdes Dominguez-Lino (#48 to #71)
-12...Urszula Radwanska (#31 to #43)
-11...Kaia Kanepi (#19 to #30)
[2012 Top 51-100]
DNP: Iveta Benesova (#81 to NR)
DNP: Vera Zvonareva (#98 to NR)
-504...Chang Kai-Chen (#89 to #593)
-159...Pauline Parmentier (#66 to #225)
-149...Melinda Czink (#96 to #245)
-92...Arantxa Rus (#68 to #160)
-89...Eleni Daniilidou (#100 to #189)
-77...Petra Cetkovska (#55 to #132)
-74...Anna Tatishvili (#51 to #125)
-72...Irina-Camelia Begu (#52 to #124)
-69...Andrea Hlavackova (#65 to #134)
-57...Petra Martic (#59 to #116)
-52...Nina Bratchikova (#85 to #137)
-50...Mathilde Johansson (#86 to #136)

*SINGLES & DOUBLES*
(singles/doubles ranks)
=TOP 25 IN BOTH (5)=
Sara Errani (#7, co-#1)
Jelena Jankovic (#8, #20)
Ekaterina Makarova (#24, #7)
Elena Vesnina (#25, #5)
Roberta Vinci (#14, co-#1)
=TOP 50 IN BOTH (+8)=
Marina Erakovic (#48, #28)
Daniela Hantuchova (#33, #49)
Bethanie Mattek-Sands (#47, #36)
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (#26, #21)
Peng Shuai (#45, #4)
Flavia Pennetta (#31, #32)
Lucie Safarova (#29, #18)
Samantha Stosur (#18, #47)

*NATIONS WITH TOP 100 DOUBLES PLAYER, BUT NOT SINGLES*
GEORGIA: #80 Anna Tatishvili
GREECE: #79 Elena Daniilidou
INDIA: #9 Sania Mirza
LATVIA: #86 Liga Dekmeijere
LUXEMBOURG: #62 Mandy Minella
THAILAND: #93 Tamarine Tanasugarn
ZIMBABWE: #13 Cara Black
[singles highs]
GEORGIA: #125 Anna Tatishvili
GREECE: #189 Elena Daniilidou
INDIA: #294 Ankita Raina
LATVIA: #252 Diana Marcinkevica
LUXEMBOURG: #115 Mandy Minella
THAILAND: #114 Luksika Kumkhum
ZIMBABWE: none
--
2010: 9
2011: 3
2012: 6
2013: 7


So... whew!



Yeah, Sabine. I know exactly how you feel.

Now, hopefully, I didn't flub up any numbers or figures after all that transcribing.

(crossing fingers)


All for now.





2013 REVIEW SERIES
Backspin MVP List
Regional Honors
The Player Lists
Ms. Backspin '13
Rankings Round-Up Lists (here!)
Performance & Match Lists (coming soon!)
WTA Yearbook (coming soon!)