This time last year, neither of last week’s champions on the Hologic WTA Tour were ranked inside the Top 100.

But Belinda Bencic and Ann Li have capped impressive comeback seasons with late-year titles — Bencic winning the WTA 500 in Tokyo and Li taking the WTA 250 in Guangzhou.

Twelve months ago, Bencic was unranked and embarking on her comeback from maternity leave. The Tokyo title — her second at WTA 500 level this year — has bumped her up another two places from No. 13 to No. 11.

After getting as high as No. 44 in January 2022, Li slumped as low as No. 229 in April 2023. The American’s quiet improvement has been one of the unsung stories of 2025. 

After three runner-up finishes in the past 12 months — Merida at the end of 2024, followed by Singapore and Cleveland this year — the 25-year-old finally got her hands on a second career WTA title with an impressive run in Guangzhou. Li, who also made the fourth round of a major for the first time at the US Open, jumps 11 places from No. 44 to a new career high of No. 33.

Meanwhile, Elena Rybakina’s run to the Tokyo semifinals enabled her to qualify for the WTA Finals for a third straight year. The former Wimbledon champion climbs one place in the rankings to No. 6, her highest position since February.

Champions Reel: How Belinda Bencic won Tokyo 2025

Runners-up Noskova, Sun surge up the rankings

Tokyo runner-up Linda Noskova is also up to a new career high, climbing four from No. 17 to No. 13. The 20-year-old Czech has finished 2025 strongly after also reaching her first WTA 1000 final in Beijing earlier this month.

Guangzhou runner-up Lulu Sun is also putting together a comeback of her own. After reaching the Wimbledon quarterfinals and Monterrey final in 2024, the New Zealander struggled for form for much of 2025, compiling a 9-20 WTA main-draw record through Monterrey this year. Sun slumped from a career high of No. 39 last September to No. 164 this August.

She’s wasted no time making back ground, though. Sun is 15-3 since the US Open, including her first WTA 125 title in Jingshan and her second career tour-level final last week. After two months outside the Top 100, she’s roared back into it with a 28-spot jump from No. 116 to No. 88.

Impressively, Sun has defeated the top seed in each of her past four tournaments: Alexandra Eala in Jingshan, Iva Jovic in Suzhou, Anastasia Zakharova in Jinan and Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in Guangzhou.

Selekhmeteva makes Top 100 debut; Bejlek, Grabher return to Top 100

Last week’s three WTA 125 champions have all climbed into the Top 100 this week.

For Rovereto winner Oksana Selekhmeteva, this marks her Top 100 debut. A former Top 10 junior who won two girls’ doubles Grand Slam titles — including the 2019 US Open with Alexandra Eala — Selekhmeteva seemed poised to transition to the tour in 2022, when she got as high as No. 138 as a 19-year-old. But a seven-month injury layoff followed in 2023, and by February 2024, she was down at No. 906. This year, she’s compiled a 48-21 record, including her first two WTA 125 titles within the past two months. Selekhmeteva, 22, rises 16 spots from No. 113 to No. 97. She is the 27th player to make her Top 100 debut im 2025.

Czech teenager Sara Bejlek made her own Top 100 debut two weeks ago after winning the Rende WTA 125 title. The 19-year-old has consolidated her position after extending her winning streak to 12 with her third WTA 125 trophy of the year in Queretaro last week. She’s up 17 places from No. 101 to a new career high of No. 84.

Former No. 54 Julia Grabher has weathered her own injury issues in recent years. The 29-year-old Austrian underwent wrist surgery in 2023 and was sidelined for seven months. She fell out of the Top 1,000 in August 2024. This year, she’s compiled a 57-29 record so far, including her second career WTA 125 title last week in Florianopolis. Grabher is back in the Top 100 for the first time since November 2023 with a 16-spot jump from No. 109 to No. 93.

British teenagers Xu, Stojsavljevic shine on home soil

Last week’s Wrexham ITF W100 event in Wales, Great Britain saw two home players contest the final — teenagers Mimi Xu and Mika Stojsavljevic. Appropriately, Welsh 18-year-old Xu took the title over 16-year-old Stojsavljevic 6-3, 7-5, avenging a quarterfinal defeat at the previous week’s Birmingham ITF W35.

The biggest title of Xu’s career to date enables her to soar 112 places to make her Top 300 debut at No. 269. She’s now the sixth-highest ranked 2007-born player following Mirra Andreeva, Iva Jovic, Tereza Valentova, Alina Korneeva and Teodora Kostovic.

Meanwhile, 2024 US Open junior champion Stojsavljevic — who also won the Birmingham event the previous week — roars up 225 places to make her Top 500 debut at No. 325.

Over in Poitiers, France, another teenager also claimed the biggest title of her career to date. Ukrainian 18-year-old Veronika Podrez took the ITF W75 title with a run that included a semifinal upset of top seed Clervie Ngounoue, and she rises 110 places to No. 317.

Other notable rankings movements

Zhang Shuai, +15 to No. 107: The 36-year-old — a two-time former champion in Guangzhou — reached the last four this year, her first run to a tour-level semifinal since Tokyo 2022.

Kaitlin Quevedo, +13 to No. 143: The Spanish 19-year-old enters the Top 150 for the first time after reaching last week’s Hamburg ITF W75 final.

Carole Monnet, +37 to No. 168: Monnet is just six places off the career high of No. 162 she set in September 2023 after reaching her first WTA 125 final in Florianopolis. The 23-year-old Frenchwoman’s run included a second-round upset of top seed Solana Sierra.

Despina Papamichail, +17 to No. 197: United Cup standout Papamichail is back in the Top 200 for the first time since October 2023 after the Greek 32-year-old was runner-up at last week’s Ibague ITF W50.

Claire Liu, +83 to No. 222: Former No. 52 Liu, who was sidelined for seven months in 2024, reached her first tour-level semifinal since Budapest 2023 last week as a qualifier in Guangzhou.

Wakana Sonobe, +37 to No. 226: Australian Open junior champion Sonobe won her second WTA 500 match of the year last week as a wild card on home soil in Tokyo. The 17-year-old soars to a new career high and is now the third-highest ranked 2008-born player behind Emerson Jones and Tyra Caterina Grant.

Jazmin Ortenzi, +27 to No. 247: The 23-year-old Argentinian won the first ITF W50 title of her career last week in Ibague.

Erika Andreeva, +70 to No. 263: Former No. 65 Andreeva was sidelined for four months following Wimbledon this year. In her second tournament back, she snapped a 10-match losing streak in style by taking the Hamburg ITF W75 title last week.

Anastasia Tikhonova, +55 to No. 272: Tikhonova, 24, was the Saguenay ITF W75 champion last week — her first title at any level since winning the Dubai ITF W100 in December 2023.

Katrina Scott, +138 to No. 323: Scott made her tour-level debut as a 16-year-old at the 2020 US Open, and reached a career high of No. 149 two years later — but has been ranked outside the Top 200 since July 2023. The American is on the rebound after reaching her first WTA 125 final last week as a qualifier in Queretaro.

Daria Khomutsianskaya, +141 to No. 489: The 21-year-old’s 10-match winning streak encompassing the Huzhou ITF W35 and Tashkent ITF W15 titles has lifted her into the Top 500 for the first time.