As mentioned on another thread, Heather Watson gained her first senior ranking this week

#756 not quite as dramatic as Laura's first ranking (courtesy of Laura's exploits at the Shrewsbury 75k) but still pretty decent including her title from Frinton

New CH for Amanda again this week

Top 10 Brit Girls this week: 54 Anne; 107 Elena; 109 Katie; 146 Mel; 190 Georgie; 251 Naomi C; 300 Emily; 362 Jade; 379 Naomi B; 412 Amanda

New CH 104 for Elena Baltacha this week!

Top 12 Brit Girls this week: 55 Annie K (very sadly injured a knee last week and will be out for the rest of the season ); 104 Bally; 107 Katie; 151 Mel; 193 Georgie; 250 Naomi C; 310 Emily; 343 Jade; 377 Naomi B; 412 Amanda C; 434 Anna S; 464 Laura

...and new doubles CH for our Emily!

Congratulations, Em, on yet another doubles Career High up to 305 this week

New doubles CHs this week also for Sarah Borwell up to #80 consolidating her status as GB #1; and for Joss Rae up to #225

The numbers are up from Delhi I

Having drifted downwards with her few weeks on the sidelines, Em's two-title winning first week in India has her back into the top 300 singles (just...300!) and, for the first time ever, top 300 doubles too (296)

New CH singles this week for Katie at world 103 (beating her previous best 104) with Bally one behind her with a CH-equalling 104; not long now until both join Annie K in the top 100?

Emily's up again

Today's singles rankings list has Emily up to world #293, her best position since the points came off from Wimbledon 2004 ; just 31 short of her career high, now; go, Emily!

Big jump up the rankings this week for Laura on the back of her showing in the senior US Open qualies; up from 462 to 330, a new career high

New singles career highs also for Joss Rae on 556 and Jade Windley on 624 plus, thanks to their great recent run as a doubles team, Jade has a new doubles CH too (541) and Joss has matched her CH (220); that's then!

Jade Curtis also has a new doubles CH today (236) thanks to picking up a title in Japan.

Top 10 Brit Girls singles: 70 Annie; 103 Bally; 107 Katie; 151 Mel; 196 Georgie; 236 Naomi C; 293 Emily; 330 Laura; 346 Jade C; 376 Naomi B

Top 5 Brit Girls doubles: 77 Sarah; 126 Annie; 195 Anna S; 208 Georgie; 220 Joss

Fantastic; absolutely fantastic!!

As mentioned on the Shrewsbury thread and in yesterday's Stop Press on the Home Page, the new WTA singles ranking list has, for the first time in 19 years, THREE Brit Girls in the world top 100

Bally's second $75k title of her career took her from 101 to 93

Katie's runner-up spot (and she ran Bally soooo close!) took her from 103 to 98

Not insignificant news further down the list is Heather Watson, who lost so narrowly to the second seed in R1 having won through qualifying at a 50k in Canada, up from 736 to a new CH 678

And Lisa Whybourn on 26 ranking points from 2 counting tournaments, including the 20 picked up at Shrewsbury, which would have had her at world 740 or thereabouts if it were 3 counting tournaments

PLUS, our Emily with a new doubles CH 289

Still 3 Brit Girls in the top 100!

Katie's fallow week has not cost her her place in the top 100 club, thankfully, and all being well she'll be able to rack up some points at the 100k+H in Japan which starts tomorrow.

Bally was at a 100k+H of her own this week in Athens and won her R1 against a player ranked just above her (in 3 long sets; Bally's hallmark it seems ) before, unfortunately, food poisoning prompted a W/O concession in R2. The points nevertheless lifted her 3 to a new CH 90 today

Annie K has started hitting tennis balls again and so hopefully is on track for her intended return in February. She's still our #1 at world #75

Naomi C switched places with Georgie to become GB #5 owing to points coming off for Georgie; bad luck Georgie, but congratulations to Naomi

And our Emily up to world #287, her best mark since the points from Wimbledon 2004 came off; only 25 adrift of her 5 years old CH

Congratulations to Lisa & Nicola (and Katie & Heather!)

Big news this week is confirmation of what we already knew from the Barnstaple thread, namely that Lisa Whybourn and Nicola George have their first senior world rankings in the WTA singles list!

Lisa's brilliant runs at Shrewsbury and Barnstaple have her entering the list at a very impressive #595 ; and has been further rewarded by a Wild Card into the Main Draw of next week's $25k at Glasgow; here's hoping Lisa's purple patch can carry on!

Nicola's excellent run at Clermont Ferrand is the main ingredient in her #900 ranking ; and she's had a Wild Card into the Glasgow qualies

Katie's run to the ITF 100k+H in Japan has boosted her ranking from 98 to a new CH 94 ; which puts her hot on the heels of Bally at #93

And Heather's win over Mel at Barnstaple has helped bump her up 74 places this week to #607 ; Heather's in the qualies at Glasgow without needing a WC

Plus Naomi C up 12 to #216 closing in on a return to the top 200; and our Emily up 1 to #286.

Main news from the doubles list is Anna's Barnstaple title catapulting her to a new CH world #173 ; and taking over as GB #3 as a consequence; congratulations Anna

Top 10 singles: 77 Anne; 93 Bally; 94 Katie; 145 Mel; 216 Naomi C; 251 Georgie; 286 Emily; 357 Jade C; 392 Naomi B; 421 Amanda C

Top 10 doubles: 81 Sarah; 126 Anne; 173 Anna; 176 Mel; 225 Georgie; 239 Jade C; 260 Joss; 272 Naomi C; 273 Amanda E; 299 Emily

Congratulations Katie & Dani

Katie O'Brien's seemingly inexorable rise up the rankings at the moment continued today with another +2 taking her to a new singles CH #92

Which nips her past Bally whose fallow week has left her on #93.

Bally is 2nd seed at a 50k in France this week whilst Katie is very likely to be 2nd seed at the 25k in Glasgow. Exciting times!

Biggest riser in the singles list this week is Dani Brown whose exploits in Australia are rewarded with +174 today to #712

Whilst the best improvement in the doubles list is our Emily, courtesy of her Mount gambier title, +39 to a new CH 260

Top 10 singles: 79 Anne; 92 Katie; 93 Bally; 153 Mel; 215 Naomi C; 250 Georgie; 310 Emily; 354 Jade C; 421 Amanda C; 425 Naomi B

Top 10 doubles: 79 Sarah; 143 Anne; 176 Anna; 178 Mel; 223 Georgie; 240 Jade C; 260 Emily; 262 Joss; 271 Naomi C; 272 Amanda E

Bally and Katie go yet higher!

Any fears that Bally and Katie breaking into the top 100 at Shrewsbury would prove a short-lived delight have been well banished now with both climbing to new career highs in today's WTA singles list; Bally up to 86 ; and Katie to 91

Other singles CHs today are Joss Rae up 57 to 489 ; and Jade Windley also up 57 to 566 ; plus Lisa Whybourn and Heather Watson both up 2 to 589 and 601 respectively

In the doubles lists there's a very nice rise for our Emily up from last week's CH 260 to yet another one today of 248

And Joss'n'Jade (mentioned above with new singles CHs) partnering each other to new doubles CHs too of 256 (Joss) and 510 (Jade)

Bittersweet moment

Annie K's long injury lay-off took a heavy toll on her ranking today with her points from winning the 2008 Krakow 100k dropping off and with it losing her GB #1 status for the first time in about 18 months. By all accounts, Annie should be back (with a protected ranking facility at her disposal initially) fairly soon after the Australian Open. All good wishes Annie!

In Annie's place today as GB #1 is not last week's GB #2, however, as Bally's own recent injury has seen her overtaken, by 5 ranking points, by Katie O'Brien who today has posted yet another new Career High. Congratulations on that, Katie ; and congratulations on regaining that GB #1 status!

Top 10 Brit Girls singles: 88 Katie; 89 Bally; 100 Annie; 159 Mel; 203 Naomi C; 252 Georgie; 332 Emily; 341 Jade C; 419 Laura; 421 Amanda C

Top 10 Brit Girls doubles: 76 Sarah; 151 Annie; 159 Mel; 175 Anna; 222 Georgie; 237 Jade C; 241 Emily; 246 Naomi C; 249 Joss; 299 Laura

And another one!

OK not quite so emotional as the circumstances of Annie's demotion maybe but never let the facts stand in the way of the headline, eh?!

After 3 weeks as GB #1 Katie watches from the sidelines as Bally leapfrogs past her to a new CH world #85 and in the process take over as GB #1

Congratulations Bally; but beware...Katie and Annie will be after you again no doubt; great news for Great British tennis

Next week when the 50 ranking points go on for Naomi B's title at the Puebla 25k (trust me to run a thread on the men's 35k there! ) there'll be a big jump up the rankings for her. Great first week back from injury, Naomi

GB top 3 singles this week: Bally 85, Katie 89, Annie 99

Way to go Naomi B (and Dani!)

Naomi's 25k title win in Mexico, and the 50 ranking points that went with it, has now fed through onto the rankings computer to have her catapulting up the world singles list by 118 places to a new Career High #327 ; and leapfrogging a few in the GB pecking order from #11 to #7

With 12 more points going on from La Habana on Monday!

Meanwhile, Dani Brown's excellent Australian tour results have her climbing 68 places to world #552 and GB #15

As Emily recovers from her wrist op, a quirk of the doubles list may raise a wry smile; she goes up 2 places in the GB pecking order this week from #9 to #7

Top 10 GB singles: 85 Bally; 89 Katie; 99 Annie; 189 Mel; 203 Naomi C; 263 Georgie; 327 Naomi B; 330 Jade C; 355 Emily; 401 Laura.

Top 10 GB doubles: 85 Sarah; 151 Annie; 170 Anna; 207 Mel; 235 Georgie; 244 Naomi C; 265 Emily; 267 Joss; 271 Jade C; 300 Laura.

New CH for Naomi B

No surprises there then!

La Habana I's 12 points have Naomi up again this week (a smaller leap this time; a bound rather than a catapult, perhaps ); up 18 from 327 to 309

With another 12 points going on next Monday!

Third new singles CH for Naomi B in as many weeks!

Unsurprisingly, Naomi Broady has a new career high today with her 12 points going on for her La Habana II title. That's up another 9 places to world #300.

Brilliant finale to 2009 for Brit Girl tennis; mustn't forget though that earlier in the piece Annie K broke into the world top 50, the first Brit Girl to do so since Sara Gomer in 1988; and that in September she was joined in the world top 100 by Bally and Katie so that we would have to go back to 1990 to find as many as the current crop of 3 in the top 100; and there ARE still 3 notwithstanding Annie's long injury lay-off which looks like it will come to an end in the nick of time for the Fed Cup in the first week of February:-

Bally at her new CH #84, Katie at #88 and Annie at #100

Annie K drops out of the top 100 this week

All being well she'll be back soon, but this week sees Annie's points drop off from Auckland last year so that she falls in the rankings from 100 to 121 leaving just Bally and Katie in the top 100 for the moment...

The only other real news this week is Naomi B's R1 in last week's ITF $50k pushes her up another 8 from her previous CH 298 to her new CH 290

A nice crop of CHs and big risers this week

Thanks to good performances at the AO plus good ones on the ITF circuit all coming onto the record at once giving the impression (and it don't lie! ) that British womens tennis is on the up and up...

Laura Robson picks up two CHs in one fell swoop: up to world #108 and GB #2 in the doubles list on the back of her run to the QFs of the Aussie Open ; and 40 ranking points from the AO qualies takes her to #313 singles

Elena Baltacha successfully defended big points from AO 2009 to retain her GB #1 status thanks to her R2 win over the 30th seed Bondarenko and hold steady on her CH ranking of #83 ; one notch in front of Katie O'Brien whose R1 win at the AO takes her to a new CH #84 in today's list

Naomi C's 40 points from AO qualies takes her back inside the top 200 to #191 within touching distance of her CH #183

Sarah Borwell's R1 win at the AO doubles has her up 9 to #76 in today's doubles list just 1 place shy of her CH

And Bally's AO doubles foray has her leaping from #660 to #281

Meantime, results from the ITFs have Naomi B up to a new CH #282 singles ; Tara Moore up from #619 to #552 singles ; and Anna Smith up 30 to #406 singles on the back of her excellent Glasgow showing

Top 10 Brit Girls singles this week: 83 Bally; 84 Katie; 127 Annie; 191 Naomi C; 236 Mel; 281 Georgie; 282 Naomi B; 313 Laura; 329 Jade C; 406 Anna

Top 10 Brit Girl doubles this week: 76 Sarah; 108 Laura; 166 Anna; 200 Mel; 210 Annie; 230 Georgie; 236 Joss; 243 Naomi C; 281 Bally; 301 Emily

A month's worth of postings have been lost into cyberspace

To bridge the gap here are the current rankings!

The biggest news recently has been Bally's continuing surge up the rankings (there'll be another new CH at the end of Indian Wells after last night's superb win over the world #10 in R2!) with her $100k ITF title in Midland, Michigan, USA and her QF the following week at the WTA International in Memphis where she played Maria Sharapova and took her closest of anyone all week ; Annie K's return to action after 6 months on the sidelines and successfully defending her 130 points at Memphis from reaching the SFs in 2009 ; plus very encouraging performances from Heather Watson (our world #4 junior beating top 200 players more often than not on the senior tour now and homing in on the top 400) and Anna Smith.

Top 10 Brit Girls in singles this week: 65 Elena Baltacha; 100 Katie O'Brien; 123 Anne Keothavong; 199 Naomi Cavaday; 227 Mel South; 273 Georgie Stoop; 296 Naomi Broady; 311 Laura Robson; 326 Jade Curtis; 350 Anna Smith

Top 10 Brit Girls in doubles this week: 80 Sarah Borwell; 111 Laura Robson; 164 Anna Smith; 203 Mel South; 212 Naomi Cavaday; 234 Georgie Stoop; 235 Joss Rae; 244 Anne Keothavong; 276 Elena Baltacha; 322 Emily Webley-Smith

6 new Career Highs today!

The "Indian Wells fortnight" having come to an end, today's new rankings lists contains new CHs for 4 Brit Girls with Anna Smith and Heather Watson doubling up with 2 each

Pride of place first, though, to Elena Baltacha and Sarah Borwell for superb new CHs arising out of the IW event itself

Sez, with Raquel Kops-Jones, stunned the third seeds Caroline Wozniacki (DEN: the new world #2 in the singles list today) and partner in R1 on the back of which she is up 7 places to world #73 in today's doubles list

Bally won through the qualies and two rounds of the Main Draw including beating the world #10 Li of China and is up 3 places to world #62 in today's singles list

Anna picks up a new CH #344 in the singles list and new CH #161 in the dubs list on the back of Dijon ; with Bath's points still to come next time

And Heather, not 18 until 19th May, is up 81 notches to world #406 in the singles list and up 78 to #453 in the dubs list following Clearwater

Top 10 Brit Girl singles: 62 Bally; 103 Katie; 124 Annie; 196 Naomi C; 228 Mel; 266 Georgie; 284 Naomi B; 313 Laura; 327 Jade C; 344 Anna

Top 10 Brit Girls doubles: 73 Sarah; 109 Laura; 161 Anna; 189 Mel; 205 Naomi C; 230 Georgie; 237 Joss; 245 Annie; 277 Bally; 321 Emily

5 new Career Highs this time!

Not quite the 6 after the IW fortnight but the end of the Miami fortnight bringing another very satisfactory haul with 3 of the dramatis personae the same...

In the singles list on the back of qualifying for the Miami MD and then beating the then world #59 Benesova, Bally is +3 to replace her as the new world #59, a new CH of course, and to bring her climb so far in 2010 to +25

Naomi Broady displaces Georgie Stoop as #6 in the GB pecking order and has a new CH #268 this week (+30 for 2010)

Anna Smith leapfrogs two in the GB top 10 this week +56 to world #288; up a phenomenal 146 in the world list so far in 2010

Anna also has a new dubs CH to celebrate this week too +14 to world #147

And with a good singles run in progress in Torhout, Belgium this week the year just keeps getting better for Anna

New CH, too, for GB dubs #1 Sarah Borwell who edges up 1 to #72

Top 10 Brits for singles this week: 59 Bally; 105 Katie; 116 Annie; 191 Naomi C; 232 Mel; 268 Naomi B; 283 Georgie; 288 Anna; 317 Laura; 334 Jade C

Top 10 Brits for doubles this week: 72 Sarah; 109 Laura; 147 Anna; 170 Mel; 184 Naomi C; 230 Joss; 241 Annie; 242 Georgie; 278 Bally; 316 Jade C