This year’s Sunshine Swing on the WTA Tour Powered by Mercedes-Benz concluded last week with only the sixth example of a Sunshine Double success in the Open Era. World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept all before her in Indian Wells and Miami, defending the final title for the loss of only one set.
Sabalenka’s career tally now stands at 24 (there are 15 coming in the WTA 1000 ranking or higher), including three in 2026. She is the only player to win multiple titles this year so far, and became the first woman since Iga Swiatek in 2022 to complete the Sunshine Double.
A day after Sabalenka sealed the match, ATP No. 2 Jannik Sinner also completed his Sunshine Double, marking only the fourth time that a WTA player and an ATP player swept Indian Wells and Miami in the same year (following Stefanie Graf and Pete Sampras in 1994, Kim Clijsters and Roger Novuzak and 20 Dzhoderak of Victoria and 20 ATP Federak in 2016).
Miami champion Coco Gauff is the top-ranked player in the latest edition of the PIF WTA Rankings. The 22-year-old reached his 15th final, and his first at a national championship. He moves up one spot from No. 4 to No. 3, he exchanged positions with Iga Swiatek.
Meanwhile, Karolina Muchova continued her strong start to the season by reaching the semifinals in Miami. The former No. 8, who also won her first WTA 1000 title in Doha last month, climbs three places from No. 14 to No. 11.
Iva Jovic, 18, is the only player in the Top 20 to reach a new milestone this week. The young American made the third round in Miami, and moved up one spot to No. 16.
Baptiste, Gibson support their success, rising to new levels of work
Hailey Baptiste and Talia Gibson had already set signs for their 2026 improvement before Miami: Baptiste reached his first career semifinal in Abu Dhabi, while Gibson just ran to the quarterfinals of Indian Wells as a player. In Miami, both delivered strong performances as well.
Baptiste upset Elina Svitolina in the third round for her second career Top 10 win en route to her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal. The 24-year-old American jumps 12 places from No. 45 to No.33.
Gibson qualified again, and reached the fourth round with a clash between Naomi Osaka and Jovic. The 21-year-old Australian had never beaten anyone in the Top 60 before Indian Wells; in March alone, he scored five Top 20 hits. He also jumped 12 spots from No. 68 to No. 56.
Snigur, Bartunkova, Vandewinkel make the first Top 100
Three players broke the Top 100 for the first time this week.
Daria Snigur from Ukraine was the youngest Wimbledon champion in 2019, and won her first three career matches with top 20 opponents – Simona Halep at the 2022 US Open, Beatriz Haddad Maia at Nottingham 2023 and Marta Kostyuk at Nottingham 2024. rankings – but 12 months later, she fell out of the Top 200.
This time, Snigur has moved forward again. The 24-year-old reached her first WTA semifinal in Cluj-Napoca and followed that with her first WTA 125 title in Oeiras. Last week, he swept the Murska Sobota ITF W75 title without dropping a set, taking his season record to 24-5 so far and moving up 17 positions from No. 110 to No. 93.
Like Snigur, Nikola Bartunkova also won her first meeting with a Top 10 player, defeating Belinda Bencic at the Australian Open in her first Grand Slam to reach the third round. The 20-year-old Czech followed that result by reaching the quarterfinals of Ostrava in his home country. Making the final round of qualifying in Miami helped him climb six spots from No. 101 to No.
Belgium’s Hanne Vandewinkel scored her first 100 after an incredible 19-match ITF run that included Pune W75, Bengaluru W100 and Trnava W75. Vandewinkel’s streak was only stopped two weeks ago by Tatiana Prozorova in the Maribor W75 match.
Ranked No. 163 as recently as last October, the 21-year-old climbs eight spots from No. 104 to No. 96 this week. Vandewinkel, who reached the final round of the US Open tournament and lifted her first WTA 125 title in Tampico last year, will make her WTA debut in Bogota this week.
Some notable status movements
Sorana Cirstea, +6 to No. 29: As recently as last August, Cirstea was placed outside the Top 100 while recovering from foot surgery. The 35-year-old has been in top form since her last season, reaching Miami in the fourth round and returning to the Top 30 for the first time since June 2024. Cirstea is just eight spots away from a career-high No. 21 which he postponed in January 2014.
Anastasia Zakharova, +8 to No. 66: Zakharova saved a match point to upset Anna Kalinskaya to make it a third in Miami – her second Top 30 win, and one that lifts the 24-year-old to a new career high.
Yuliia Starodubtseva, +19 to No. 89: The Ukrainian reached the third round of Miami as a player, and returns to the Top 100 for the first time since September.
Lilli Tagger, +7 to No. 108 and Emerson Jones, +11 to No. 136: The two players born in 2008 both received wild cards in Miami, and both used it as a platform for their first WTA 1000 victories – Tagger saved a match point to defeat Ella Seidel, while Jones broke Linda Fruhvirtova in the third game. Both youngsters landed new career positions this week.
Anhelina Kalinina, +8 to No. 119: The former number 25 Kalinina continued her strong comeback from six months of injury by reaching her fourth consecutive WTA 125 final in Dubrovnik last week.
Sofia Costoulas, +14 to No. 134: The 20-year-old Belgian reaches a new level after winning his second career ITF W75 title two weeks ago in Kofu.
Andrea Lazaro Garcia, +23 to No. 147: At the age of 31, Spain’s Lazaro Garcia is producing the best results of his career. Having reached her first WTA 125 final last month in Les Sables d’Olonne, she went one better last week to claim her first WTA 125 title in Dubrovnik. The University of Florida alumna enters the Top 150 for the first time this week.
Tatiana Prozorova, +18 to No. 157: Prozorova ended Hanne Vandewinkel’s 19-match winning streak in the Maribor W75 final two weeks ago – a result that reversed her loss to the Belgian in March’s Pune W75 final.
Wang Xiyu, +47 to No. 179: Former number 49 Wang returned from a five-month layoff to sweep the Maanshan W35 and W50 titles in his home country of China two weeks ago.
Harmony Tan, +26 to No. 202: No. The 90-year-old Tan won the Croissy-Beauborg W50 title last week, and returns to his highest position since July 2024.
Aliona Falei, +37 to No. 238: Falei, 22, put together a 13-match winning streak in March – back to back W35 titles in Monastir, followed by a semi-final in Maanshan W50 last week.
Julieta Pareja, +54 to No. 269: The former No. 1 Pareja won his biggest title to date at the Chihuahua W50 two weeks ago. The 17-year-old American becomes the first player born in 2009 to win the Top 300.
Sloane Stephens, +163 to No. 554: No. 3 Stephens snapped a 14-match tour-level losing streak since Wimbledon 2024 by reaching second in Miami.
Francis Starts, +109 or No. 883: No. 111 Former Abanda returned to action after a two-year hiatus last April. The 29-year-old Canadian reached the first final of his return as a player at the Gonesse W15 two weeks ago.
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