WTA rankings: four new names in the top 50, Tagger youngest at 18

Twenty-nine. That is how many places Lilli Tagger climbed in this week's WTA rankings, from No. 74 to a career-best No. 45, after the 18-year-old won the Livesport Prague Open. She was one of four players to break into the top 50 in a week when the entire top 10 held its exact place.

Tagger arrived at the Livesport Prague Open ranked No. 74 and left with the title. She beat Barbora Krejcikova in the semi-finals and Daria Snigur in the final, five wins across the week that lifted her 29 places to No. 45, her best ranking at 18.

The week's biggest climb belonged to Tamara Korpatsch. The 31-year-old won Hamburg and rose 35 places to a career-best No. 46, landing one spot behind Tagger. Four players broke into the top 50 in all: Snigur climbed to a career-best No. 43 off her Prague final, Tagger to 45, Korpatsch to 46, and Mayar Sherif to No. 50 off a Hamburg semi-final. The list moved the other way too. Emma Raducanu slipped to No. 49, Caty Mcnally slid from No. 53 to No. 73, and Taylor Townsend dropped out of the top 100.

At the top nothing moved. Aryna Sabalenka stayed No. 1 without playing, a 494-point lead over Elena Rybakina, and every member of the top 10 held its exact place.

Ranking tale, 27 July 2026, sources: WTA rankings, api-tennis