Last week, the traditional post-Wimbledon European clay-court swing got underway on the Hologic WTA Tour, with multiple 250-level events taking place. Both events were won by the No.1 seeds. Zheng Qinwen successfully defended her Palermo crown, while Diana Shnaider powered her way to the Budapest trophy.
While there was no movement in the Top 20 in this week’s edition of the PIF WTA Rankings, Shnaider’s title helped lift her to a new career high — up another five places to No.23. Shnaider, 20, overtakes Linda Noskova as the second-highest ranked player born in 2004, behind only Coco Gauff.
Impressively, Shnaider’s has now completed the career surface sweep with her first three titles, following her victories in Hua Hin on hard courts in February and in Bad Homburg on grass in June. She is the first player to win her first three titles on different surfaces since Elena Rybakina (Bucharest 2019 on clay, Hobart 2020 on hard, Wimbledon 2022 on grass) and the youngest player to win titles on three different surfaces since Caroline Wozniacki in 2009 (Ponte Vedra Beach on clay, Eastbourne on grass and New Haven on hard).
Muchova returns to Top 30, Sasnovich moves up
Only three tournaments into her comeback from right wrist surgery, former Roland Garros finalist Karolina Muchova reached her fifth career final. In Palermo, Muchova was denied a second title by Zheng, but she climbs six places from No.35 to No.29. However, over the coming two months, Muchova has the Cincinnati final and the US Open semifinal points to defend.
In Budapest, a resurgent Aliaksandra Sasnovich made her first final since Cleveland 2022, her first on clay and fifth overall. The 30-year-old still has to wait for her first title after falling to Shnaider, but her run still marked a welcome turnaround. Sasnovich entered Budapest with just two tour-level wins in 2024 and ranked No.134, her lowest position since 2015. This week, she bounces back up 30 places to No.104.
New career highs for Lys, Lamens
Two milestones in Budapest led to new career highs this week. Germany’s Eva Lys, 22, reached her first WTA semifinal and climbs 21 spots from No.129 to No.108.
Meanwhile, Dutch 25-year-old Suzan Lamens made her first WTA quarterfinal and is up 16 places from…