Mirra Andreeva enters the Top 3 on Monday, and is the youngest to do so since Maria Sharapova in 2005.
Chris OddoOctober 12, 20262 minute read
Beijing heroics have led to some special milestones in Monday’s WTA rankings, with several players reaching new career highs.
The participants in Sunday’s final, Zheng Qinwen and Mirra Andreeva, are high on the list, with Andreeva, this year’s Roland-Garros champion, celebrating her Top 3 debut.
Andreeva, 19, becomes the youngest player to make her Top 3 debut since 17-year-old Maria Sharapova accomplished the feat in February 2005. Only two other teenagers – Caroline Wozniacki and Coco Gauff – have made a Top 3 debut in the intervening years, but Andreeva, who also qualified for the WTA Finals last week, is the youngest of the three.
Beijing champion Zheng Qinwen also has more cause to celebrate on Monday. After becoming the first Chinese player to win the title in the Chinese capital, she is back in the Top 30, jumping 31 places from No. 54 to No. 23. Zheng, incidentally, was ranked No. 121 just a month ago, during the US Open.
Also cracking the Top 30 this week is 20-year-old Nikola Bartunkova, who upset Aryna Sabalenka en route to her first WTA 1000 semifinal in Beijing. The Czech, who finished 2025 at No. 130, is up to a career-high No. 29.
Alina Charaeva, who upset World No. 1 Elena Rybakina in Beijing, climbs 20 places to No. 98 – marking a Top 100 debut for the 2020 Roland-Garros girls’ finalist from Armenia. She becomes the second woman from her country to hold a Top 100 ranking, joining Elina Avanesyan.
Elise Mertens, who defeated Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek in Beijing, climbs five places to No. 14, her highest ranking since May 2021, after reaching the Beijing semifinals. Elina Svitolina rises one spot to No. 6, her highest position since September 2021.
Iva Jovic, 18, reaches a new career high of No. 11, up two places after reaching the Beijing round of 16, while Austria’s Sinja Kraus also celebrates a career high, jumping 20 places to No. 75 after making her first WTA 1000 round of 16.
Finally, 16-year-old Sun Xinran, the reigning US Open girls’ champion, surges 164 places to No. 418 after reaching the third round in Beijing on her WTA main-draw debut. The Chinese teenager cracks the Top 500 for the first time after putting up a special performance on home soil.
