The grass-court season is short but sweet - particularly for those players with games suited to the lawns of Europe, taking full advantage of a second week on them to make gains on the WTA Rankings.
Petra Kvitova, Wimbledon champion in 2011 and 2014, is a prime example. The Czech's victory at the Aegon Classic, Birmingham last week, in just her second tournament back following left hand injuries sustained in a December home invasion, was a heartwarming comeback story - and it also means that she sees her ranking rise for the first time in 2017, moving back up four places to No.12. Surprise runner-up Ashleigh Barty is another big mover: her Premier final debut has helped her soar 23 spots to No.54, smashing her previous career high of No.76.
Here are the other most notable WTA Rankings movers this week:
Caroline Wozniacki (+2, 8 to 6): The former World No.1 wasn't in action last week, but the consistency of her season so far - with three finals and five quarterfinals - has enabled her to achieve her highest ranking since September 2015.
CoCo Vandeweghe (+5, 30 to 25): The American has won consecutive WTA Tour matches just three times in 2017, but those occasions have been big ones. Last week, she added a quarterfinal run in Birmingham, upsetting Johanna Konta en route, to her Australian Open semifinal and Madrid quarterfinal.
Lucie Safarova (+7, 41 to 34): In 2016, the Czech saw her ranking plummet from No.9 to outside the Top 60 after being hospitalized with a bacterial infection. This year, she's been slowly making her way back up - and a semifinal run in Birmingham, her fourth of the season, sees her regain a Top 40 ranking.
Julia Goerges (+9, 54 to 45): A former Top 20 player, the German made her first final in 18 months last week in Mallorca, beating No.1 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova en route. It was also her first career grass-court final, and sees her rise back into the Top 50.
Camila Giorgi (+18, 102 to 84): Two weeks ago, the Italian fell out of the Top 100 for the first time since October 2013. Her spell in triple figures didn't last long: last week, Giorgi rebounded by coming through Birmingham qualifying to make her first Premier-level quarterfinal since Moscow 2014.
Magdalena Rybarikova (+22, 107 to 85): The Slovak's spectacular resurgence continues apace. Last week, Rybarikova collected her fourth big ITF title of 2017 at the Ilkley $100,000 event, extending her win-loss record to 23-2 in her last six events, 30-6 overall this year and 13-1 on grass. Exactly 12 months after falling out of the Top 100, and just three months after sinking to a post-injury low of No.453, she's back in double-digit business.
Alison Van Uytvanck (+5, 103 to 98): Another player hot on the comeback trail is Alison Van Uytvanck, who also fell out of the Top 100 last June. Having pushed Agnieszka Radwanska to three sets at Roland Garros, a finalist run in Ilkley sees her make her return to her former territory.
Sabine Lisicki (+17, 144 to 127): A shoulder injury forced the former Wimbledon finalist to miss the first half of the season - but a return on her beloved grass courts in Mallorca paid off immediately, as Lisicki made her first WTA Tour quarterfinal since Guangzhou last September.
Victoria Azarenka (UNR to 678): All eyes were on the former World No.1's comeback from maternity leave in Mallorca - and, having lost her ranking when her points from Roland Garros 2016 fell off, a first-round victory over Risa Ozaki sees her back on the list after spending just a fortnight unranked.
