Ana Ivanovic is one spot away from returning to the world's top 10 for the first time since 2009. The Serbian, whose struggles have been well-documented since her Roland Garros crown (and subsequent rise to WTA stardom) in 2008, captured her first career title on grass on the lawns of Birmingham over the weekend. She didn't drop a set to claim the title at the Premier event, and rises two spots from No. 13 to No. 11.
It was a week for breakthroughs in Birmingham, and Casey Dellacqua and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova reap the rewards of career weeks. Zahlavova Strycova, who upset three top-40 players en route to her fourth career final, might've come off second-best on the court to Ivanovic, but she's the big winner in this week's rankings. The Czech rises 19 spots from No. 62 to No. 43, and sits just three places off of the career-high of No. 39 that she set in 2010. Dellacqua upset countrywoman Samantha Stosur en route to her second career WTA semifinal, and rises seven places to a new career-high of No. 36. The Australian was ranked outside the top 100 at this time last season.
On the men's side, the top 20 remained almost stagnant as Roger Federer and Grigor Dimitrov both picked up titles in Halle and at the Queen's Club in London last week, but stayed firm in the rankings. Alejandro Falla, the beaten finalist in Halle, enjoyed a bump of 15 spots to No. 54. The Colombian now sits just six spots off of his career high of No. 48, a ranking he first achieved in 2012.
Two players who played on the ATP Challenger Tour last week also enjoyed significant moves in the rankings. Both Lukas Rosol and Pablo Carreno-Busta took advantage of their top-seeded status to claim titles. In Caltanissetta, Italy, Carreno was competing in his first Challenger tournament of the year. He rallied from a set down in the semifinal and the final, while improving to 7-0 in Challenger Tour finals. The ATP's Most Improved Player of 2013 rises 12 spots in the rankings to No. 61. Rosol moves up five places in the rankings to No. 50 courtesy of his second career victory at the Prague Open. He
Outside the world's top 100, Aussie phenom Nick Kyrgios picked up his third Challenger title of the year in Nottingham. The 19-year-old has won titles on all three surfaces this year, and moves up 28 places to a new career-high of No. 145. For his efforts in Nottingham, he also received a Wimbledon main draw wild card.