May 16th Rankings - Women

Just some minor changes in the top 10 this week, as Rome champion Maria Sharapova moves up to #4, past Victoria Azarenka, and Sam Stosur trades places with Flavia Pennetta, with the Aussie heading up to 9th.

Winners:

Rome
#7 Maria Sharapova RUS (4)
1st round Bye
2nd round Ekaterina Makarova RUS (25) | 6-1 6-1
3rd round #10 Shahar Peer ISR (18) | 6-2 6-2
Quarters #3 Victoria Azarenka BLR (5) | 4-6 3-0 Retired
Semis #1 Caroline Wozniacki DEN (2) | 7-5 6-3
Final #6 Samantha Stosur AUS (9) | 6-2 6-4
Average Opponent Rank 11.8

Maria Sharapova's biggest clay win of her career was an incredibly impressive showing in Rome, as she played all top-25 players, and three of the top ten. She dropped just one set, and was somewhat fortunate that the woman who took that from her, Azarenka, was unable to finish out the match. Her wins over the top seed, Wozniacki, and a strong clay-courter in Stosur, however, signal that she is ready to contend at Roland Garros next week.

ITF events:

100K
Prague: #4 Magdalena Rybarikova (77) d. #1 Petra Kvitova CZE (6) | 6-3 6-4

50K
Kurume: Rika Fujiwara JPN (326) d. Monique Adamczak AUS (n/a) | 6-3 6-1
Raleigh: Petra Rampre SLO (227) d. #6 Camila Giorgi ITA (170) | 6-3 6-2
Reggio Emilia: #6 Sloane Stephens USA (109) d. #1 Anastasiya Yakimova BLR (119) | 6-3 6-1
Saint-Gaudens: #4 Anastasia Pivovarova RUS (95) d. #3 Arantxa Rus NED (114) | 7-6(4) 6-7(3) 6-2

25K
Zagreb: #8 Natalie Piquion FRA (302) d. Doroteja Eric SRB (297) | 6-3 3-6 6-1

10K
Bangkok: Luksika Kumkhum THA (349)
Bastad: Romana Caroline Tabak SVK (n/a)
Encarnacion: Veronica Cepede Royg PUR (327)
Heraklion: Despina Papamichail GRE (453)Istanbul: Jasmin Steinherr GER (545)

Itaparica: Andrea Benitez ARG (392)
New Delhi: Keren Shlomo ISR (525)
Tenerife: Victoria Larriere FRA (331)

Riser of the Week (top 100):
Polona Hercog SLO (73), Up 19
The 20-year-old Slovenian lost first round at Madrid this week last year, but had a much better time of it in Rome. She won two matches to qualify for the main draw, then promptly won twice more, beating Alexandra Dulgheru (37) and Andrea Petkovic (16), before losing to the eventual finalist, Sam Stosur.

Riser of the Week (other):
Petra Rampre SLO (227), Up 66
Slovenia locks out the top awards this week, as the veteran Rampre als had an excellent rise. Her strong result came on US hardcourts, at an ITF event in Raleigh, where she won the title, beating the likes of Timea Babos (154), Alexandra Stevenson (202) and Camila Giorgi (170).

Dropper of the Week (top 100):
Aravane Rezai FRA (76), Down 28
Rezai was very much a hot commodity this time last season, as whe had an excellent performance in winning Madrid, beating Justine Henin, Venus Williams, Jelena Jankovic (21) and Andrea Petkovic (15), among others, en route to the title. This year, though, things haven't gone as well for her, and she didn't play rome after losing early in Madrid, sending her well out of the top 50.

Dropper of the Week (other):
Johanna Konta AUS (261), Down 56
The young Aussie takes a tough fall after dropping an ITF win from last year, when she took the title at Raleigh. This win included her beating Lindsay Lee-Waters (185), Ahsha Rolle (204) and Mirjana Lucic (120), and without it, Konta drops away from the edge of the top 200.

1 (1). Kim Clijsters BEL - 845.4
Last week: None

2 (2). Caroline Wozniacki DEN - 823.6
Last week: Rome SF (l. Sharapova)

3 (3). Vera Zvonareva RUS - 815.8
Last week: None

4 (5). Maria Sharapova RUS - 800.5
Last week: Rome W

5 (4). Victoria Azarenka BLR - 798.8
Last week: Rome QF (l. Sharapova)

6 (6). Petra Kvitova CZE - 786.6
Last week: Prague ITF F (l. Rybarikova)

7 (7). Na Li CHN - 784.3
Last week: Rome SF (l. Stosur)

8 (8). Elena Dementieva RUS - 784.1
Last week: None

9 (10). Samantha Stosur AUS - 783.4
Last week: Rome F (l. Sharapova)

10 (9). Flavia Pennetta ITA - 780.6
Last week: Rome R64 (l. Mattek-Sands)

11 (12). Francesca Schiavone ITA - 780.5
Last week: Rome QF (l. Stosur)

12 (13). Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS - 778.8
Last week: Rome R16 (l. Azarenka)

13 (11). Shuai Peng CHN - 778.2
Last week: Rome R64 (l. McHale)

14 (14). Agnieszka Radwanska POL - 776.9
Last week: Rome R32 (l. Vesnina)

15 (15). Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS - 775.3
Last week: Rome R64 (l. Arn)

16 (17). Andrea Petkovic GER - 773.0
Last week: Rome R32 (l. Hercog)

17 (16). Kaia Kanepi EST - 771.9
Last week: Rome R64 (l. Oprandi)

18 (18). Shahar Peer ISR - 770.7
Last week: Rome R16 (l. Sharapova)

19 (19). Ana Ivanovic SRB - 770.2
Last week: Rome R32 (l. Wickmayer)

20 (20). Jelena Jankovic SRB - 766.8
Last week: Rome QF (l. Wozniacki)

21 (21). Yanina Wickmayer BEL - 765.2
Last week: Rome R16 (l. Wozniacki)

22 (22). Dominika Cibulkova SVK - 763.1
Last week: None

23 (23). Marion Bartoli FRA - 762.8
Last week: Rome R32 (l. Medina Garrigues)

24 (24). Julia Goerges GER - 759.9
Last week: None

25 (27). Ekaterina Makarova RUS - 755.2
Last week: Rome R32 (l. Sharapova)

In: Ekaterina Makarova
Out: Nadia Petrova