The post-Wimbledon stretch of scenic European clay-court WTA 250 events has traditionally been sites of breakthroughs and rebounds, and this year was no different. In Hamburg, Lois Boisson captured her first Hologic WTA Tour trophy, while Irina-Camelia Begu delighted the Romanian crowd in Iasi by taking the title on home soil.

Boisson put together one of the summer’s notable underdog stories when, as a wild card competing in just her second tour-level event, she thrilled the French fans at Roland Garros by reaching the semifinals. In her third tour-level event, the 22-year-old showed that was no one-off performance by going all the way to the title.

Six weeks ago, Boisson broke into the Top 100 for the first time. In this week’s edition of the PIF WTA Rankings, she makes her Top 50 debut with a 19-place jump from No. 63 to No. 44.

By contrast to Boisson’s sudden burst on to the scene, Begu has been a tour mainstay for nearly a decade and a half. The 34-year-old cracked the Top 10 in April 2011 after reaching her first WTA final in Marbella. A year later, she collected her maiden title in Tashkent. Last week, she went into Iasi winning just two out of 11 tour-level matches in 2025 — and emerged with her sixth career title, and first since Palermo 2022.

Begu became the first Romanian champion on home soil since her own title run at Bucharest 2017 and returns to the Top 100 for the first time since May with a 28-place leap from No. 110 to No. 82.

Champions Reel: How Irina-Camelia Begu won Iasi 2025

Finalists Bondar, Teichmann also boosted

Last year, Anna Bondar picked up her second career WTA 125 title in Hamburg. Twelve months on, with the event back at WTA 250 level, the Hungarian continued her strong form in the city by reaching her first tour-level final. Bondar’s run included her second career Top 20 win, over No. 1 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in the quarterfinals. Her loss to Boisson in the final continued an unusual pattern at the tournament: in 2024, Bondar had herself dethroned the previous year’s champion, Arantxa Rus, in the title match.

Bondar’s strong clay-court form in recent months also included the Wiesbaden ITF W100 title in April and a run to the Bari WTA 125 final in June. She climbs 18 places this week from No. 77 to No. 59, nine places below the career high of No. 50 that she set in July 2022.

Iasi runner-up Jil Teichmann snapped a four-year drought by reaching her first tour-level final since Cincinnati 2021, and fifth overall. Having slumped out of the Top 100 in 2023, the Swiss former No. 21 has re-embedded herself there this year. Also a champion at the Mumbai WTA 125 in February, Teichmann is up 22 spots from No. 102 to No. 80 this week.

Teenage talents Valentova, Marcinko thrive in WTA 125 events

Last week saw a teenage sweep of WTA 125 titles by former junior Slam champions, with 18-year-old Tereza Valentova triumphing on the hard courts of Porto and 19-year-old Petra Marcinko lifting the trophy on the clay courts of Rome.

Valentova didn’t drop a set all week, conceding just 23 games across five matches en route to the title, a continuation of her standout season. The Czech has compiled a 36-8 record in 2025, going 16-2 over her past four tournaments, a stretch that includes two WTA 125 titles and a run to the second round of Roland Garros as a qualifier. After ending 2024 ranked No. 261, she’s now just outside the Top 100, jumping 23 spots this week to a new career high of No. 106.

Marcinko, the 2022 Australian Open junior champion, has already experienced a significant rise and fall in her career. The Croatian reached her previous career high of No. 132 back in October 2023, only to fall out of the Top 300 a year later after an injury-struck 2024.

However, she’s been rounding into form at WTA 125 level in recent weeks, reaching the semifinals in Grado and Contrexéville over the past month. Marcinko’s first WTA 125 trophy means she sets a new career high, rocketing 38 places to No. 131.

Other notable rankings movements

Dayana Yastremska, +6 to No. 33: In Hamburg, the Ukrainian reached her third semifinal of the year, and first on clay since the same tournament in 2021.

Dalma Galfi, +9 to No. 102: Hungary’s Galfi reached her first tour-level quarterfinal in 13 months in Hamburg.

Talia Gibson, +11 to No. 111: The 21-year-old Australian won her second ITF title of the year at last week’s Granby W75, and hits a new career high.

Zhang Shuai, +8 to No. 112: Zhang, 36, won last week’s Nottingham ITF W50 without dropping a set.

Sorana Cirstea, +29 to No. 137: Former No. 21 Cirstea, 35, reached the Iasi semifinals on home soil — her first tour-level semifinal since Dubai 2024.

Panna Udvardy, +12 to No. 138: The Hungarian reached the last eight in Iasi — her second career tour-level quarterfinal, and first since Budapest 2021.

Oksana Selekhmeteva, +25 to No. 143: The 22-year-old reached her first WTA 125 final in Rome, and is just five places beneath the career high of No. 138 that she set in 2022.

Kaja Juvan, +41 to No. 166: After a 12-month hiatus due to a shoulder nerve issue in 2024, former No. 58 Juvan’s comeback is gaining momentum. The Slovenian reached her first tour-level semifinal since Strasbourg 2022 in Hamburg last week.

Lanlana Tararudee, +20 to No. 167: Tararudee, 21, reached her first career WTA 125 final last week in Porto, and is one place beneath her career high of No. 166.

Linda Klimovicova, +31 to No. 181: The 21-year-old Polish player reaches a new career high after winning her first ITF W75 title last week in Vitoria-Gasteiz.

Ana Sofia Sánchez, +36 to No. 190: At the age of 31, Sánchez captured the first ITF W75 title of her career last week in Olomouc and makes her Top 200 debut as a result. The Mexican made her WTA main-draw debut as a wild card at Monterrey 2013.

Justina Mikulskyte, +15 to No. 199: Mikulskyte, 29, also makes her Top 200 debut after reaching the first ITF W75 final of her career in Vitoria-Gasteiz. She becomes the second Lithuanian to reach the WTA Top 200 following Lina Stanciute, who peaked at No. 197 in 2009.

Nastasja Schunk, +21 to No. 267: Schunk, the 2021 Wimbledon junior finalist, won the first WTA main draw match of her career last week in Hamburg. The 21-year-old German reached a career high of No. 143 in 2022 before being set back by injury.

Caroline Werner, +32 to No. 271: At the age of 29, Werner qualified for her first WTA main draw on home soil in Hamburg and reached the second round.

Anna Siskova, +77 to No. 328: Siskova notched her second career Top 100 win over Ann Li to reach her first WTA quarterfinal in Iasi as a qualifier. The 24-year-old Czech’s season record is now 37-8.

Fiona Crawley, +67 to No. 344: University of North Carolina alumna Crawley, 23, reached her first career ITF W75 final last week in Granby and climbs to a new career high.

Katie Swan, +266 to No. 474: Following a nine-month injury hiatus, former No. 118 Swan returned to action in April this year. The 26-year-old Briton put together an eight-match winning streak over the past two weeks, winning the Don Benito ITF W35 event then reaching the Vitoria-Gasteiz ITF W75 semifinals.

Giulia Safina Popa, +346 to No. 879: As a qualifying wild card in Iasi, 15-year-old Popa notched her first career Top 200 win over Andrea Lazaro Garcia en route to qualifying for her first WTA main draw. The Romanian was the Les Petits As runner-up in 2023.

Barbara Kostecka, UNR to No. 1,065: Playing just her second pro tournament, Polish 16-year-old Kostecka claimed the title two weeks ago at the Grodzisk Mazowiecki ITF W15.