Last week, Zhu Lin sealed the first Top 100 finish of her career after first breaking that barrier in February - but the Chinese No.6 isn't done yet. Having reached the Suzhou ITF W100 final last month and taken the Liuzhou ITF W60 title two weeks ago, Zhu extended her winning streak to 10 (and 14 of her past 15 matches) by capturing her biggest trophy to date last week at the Shenzhen ITF W100 event.
The 25-year-old, whose Shenzhen title run included a 6-2, 6-2 rout of Timea Babos in the quarterfinals and a 6-3, 7-5 defeat of Kurumi Nara in the semifinals, lifted the trophy after No.1 seed Peng Shuai retired trailing by a set in the final - and hits a career-high ranking for a second consecutive week, rising from World No.83 to World No.71. The victory caps a memorable season for Zhu, whose overall win-loss record is now 52-26, including the second Top 20 win of her career over Elise Mertens in Dubai as well as a quarterfinal finish in Nanchang.
Here are the notable movers in the WTA Rankings for the week commencing 11 November, 2019.
Peng Shuai (+10, 75 to 65): This time last year, the former World No.14 ended her season on a hot streak, winning the Houston 125K and Dubai ITF W100 titles - as well as the Australian Open Asia-Pacific Wildcard Play-Off in between - to spark her return to WTA Tour level in 2019. Having stalled due to health reasons in the first half of this year, winning only one of her first 10 matches, Peng is repeating the feat after putting together a nine-match winning streak that included the Suzhou ITF W100 title and a runner-up finish last week in the Shenzhen ITF W100 event, halted only by retirement in the final of the latter. The 2014 US Open semifinalist consequently rises to her highest ranking since July 2018.
Zhu Lin (+12, 83 to 71): For several years, Zhu would repeatedly find the Top 100 an insurmountable barrier. In May 2015, the Chinese player reached World No.107, only to fall back out of the Top 150 by the end of the year. In October 2017, she hit a new career high of World No.104, but again lost ground as the milestone remained tantalizingly out of reach. September 2018 saw Zhu edge even closer, hitting World No.102 - but it was only in February this year, after defeating Elise Mertens in a marathon two-hour, 59-minute encounter in the first round of Dubai, that the 25-year-old finally reached broke through. Although Zhu would again sink down the rankings following lacklustre results on clay and grass, she has lit up on Asian hard courts again: a quarterfinal showing in Nanchang has been followed by consecutive trophies at the Liuzhou ITF W60 and Shenzhen ITF W100 events to embed herself firmly in the Top 100 at last.
Jasmine Paolini (+12, 117 to 105): The 23-year-old Italian has cemented herself as one to watch in 2019 - not least for the bold shotmaking her five-foot-three frame produces. Paolini's panache has paid off in terms of results, too: WTA quarterfinal finishes in Palermo and Guangzhou, where she scored the second Top 50 win of her career over Zheng Saisai, were followed last week by a run to the Shenzhen ITF W100 semifinals that included a quarterfinal upset of the in-form Nina Stojanovic. As a result, Paolini hits a new career high on the brink of the Top 100.
Anhelina Kalinina (+20, 181 to 161): After the Ukrainian turned heads by stretching Sloane Stephens to three sets in her Grand Slam debut at the 2018 US Open, she appeared to be on the verge of a breakthrough after years of injury. This year, though, Kalinina was unable to build on that momentum, winning only one WTA main draw match over the whole season - although that one was a quality upset of Katerina Siniakova in Jurmala. However, a run to the Las Vegas ITF W60 final last week, where the 22-year-old defeated Varvara Lepchenko and Katherine Sebov before falling to Mayo Hibi in the final, has boosted Kalinina in the right direction again.
Elisabetta Cocciaretto (+47, 215 to 168): The former junior World No.12, an Australian Open girls' semifinalist in 2018, has been making waves in the pro ranks this year - and they're getting ever larger. The last fortnight has seen Cocciaretto lift her first two ITF W60 trophies in consecutive weeks in Asuncion, Paraguay and Colina, Chile; the former was a battling run that saw the 18-year-old stretched to three sets in four of her five matches, including a 6-1, 4-6, 6-0 final defeat of 2012 Roland Garros runner-up Sara Errani, but this week Cocciaretto ploughed through the field for the loss of only one set, to No.1 seed Allie Kiick in the semifinals. Having raised her official year-end ranking from World No.750 in 2018 to World No.215 this year, this 10-match winning streak sees the Italian - who played her first two WTA main draws in Rome and Palermo this season as a wildcard and qualifier respectively - break the Top 200 in style.
Mayo Hibi (+43, 214 to 171): The California-based Japanese player first marked herself out as one to watch in 2013, when she scored a pair of Top 100 wins over Ajla Tomljanovic and Lauren Davis and took the Sacramento ITF W50 title as a 17-year-old. But Hibi, who boasts a rare one-handed backhand and a fine dropshot, has taken a more circuitous route since. Despite qualifying for the US Open in 2015 and hitting a career high of World No.166 the following June, her maiden WTA main draw win only came this July, over Timea Babos in San Jose. That has contributed towards one of the 23-year-old's most solid seasons to date, though - and last week, Hibi sealed her return to the Top 200 with her biggest title in six years, lifting the Las Vegas ITF W60 trophy after defeating a pair of young Ukrainian talents in the last two rounds, edging out Katarina Zavatska 7-6(10), 6-4 in the semifinals and coming through 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 over Anhelina Kalinina in the final.
Mayar Sherif (+23, 212 to 189): The Pepperdine University graduate's first full professional season has been spectacular: having started 2019 unranked and playing ITF W15 qualifying in Sharm el Sheikh, a semifinal run at last week's Colina ITF W60 event has extended Sherif's win-loss record to an astonishing 71-16 and lifted her into the Top 200 for the first time. This isn't just a personal milestone for the 23-year-old, who has captured six ITF titles and compiled a 26-match winning streak between April and June, though: she is the first Egyptian woman ever to be ranked this high. In addition, a gold medal in August's African Games has ensured Sherif of a place in next year's Tokyo Olympic Games.
