Both players went out in round one of the recently concluded French Open, while Kanepi also exited Roland Garros in the opening round in the women's doubles category.

Kontaveit has not played competitively since then; Kanepi reached round two of a recent ITF tournament in Italy, pulling out after the first set and forfeiting the match.

Kanepi, 37, from Haapsalu, has dropped 22 spots to 96th place in the WTA rankings, while Kontaveit remains 78th.

That Kanepi had ranked above Kontaveit this year mainly relates to the latter's ongoing injuries, which have kept her out of competition much of the time since January.

One player whose recent form has sent them in the opposite direction is Elena Malõgina, who rose 35 places in the WTA rankings to reach a career-high 322nd. Malõgina reached the quarter-finals of the same ITF tournament in Caserta, Italy, that Kanepi had competed in.

Of the other two top Estonian women's tennis players, Maileen Nuudi dropped two places to 549th, Katriin Saar is now ranked 1,202nd in the world.

French Open victor Iga Swiatek remains world number one, followed by Arina Sabalenka of neighboring Belarus, whose participation at the tournament met with criticism from one of her defeated Ukrainian opponents; Sabalenka reached the semi-finals, to be defeated by eventual runner up Karolina Muchova (Czech Republic). Last year's Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina is third, Caroline Garcia (France) is now ranked fourth.

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