WTA RANKINGS WINNERS & LOSERS PRE-WIMBLEDON: COCO GAUFF SECURES TWO MILESTONES, ANNA KALINSKAYA +7, AJLA TOMLJANOVIC +55
Coco Gauff has unlocked a new seeding milestone ahead of Wimbledon and cracked the 8,000-point barrier in the WTA Rankings with her run to the semi-final of the Berlin Ladies Open.
The American rose to No 2 in the rankings for the first time in her career after the French Open, but she was involved in a tight battle with Aryna Sabalenka for that position at this week’s WTA 500 event in Germany.
Gauff, though, outlasted Sabalenka at the grass-court event to secure the No 2 seeding for Wimbledon as she reached the last four in Berlin after Ons Jabeur withdrew.
She can still reach the final as her semi-final against Jessica Pegula will be completed on Sunday due to rain, although she was one set down and behind in the second-set tie-breaker when play was called off. Sabalenka, meanwhile, suffered a shoulder injury in her quarter-final match and retired.
It means the reigning US Open champion will be seeded second at a Grand Slam for the first time in her career as the cutoff date for the Wimbledon seedings is June 24 with her previous best being a third seed.
The 20-year-old will thus only face world No 1 Swiatek in the final – if they both reach that stage – while she can only face one of Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina in the semi-final if the seedings hold.
WTA Top 10 Before Berlin/Birmingham
1. Iga Swiatek – 11,695 points
2. Coco Gauff – 7,988
3. Aryna Sabalenka – 7,788
4. Elena Rybakina – 5,973
5. Jessica Pegula – 4,625
6. Marketa Vondrousova – 4,503
7. Jasmine Paolini – 4,068
8. Qinwen Zheng – 4,005
9. Maria Sakkari – 3,980
10. Ons Jabeur – 3,748
But securing the second seed status was not her only achievement with her performance in Germany, as she has now also hit the 8,000-ranking points tally for the first time in her career.
Gauff started the week on 7,988 points and dropped 55 points as she reached the second round last year, but her tally will be boosted by 140 points on the back of her semi-final run.
That pushed her through the 8,000 barrier for the first time in her career, but she is well short of world No 1 Swiatek’s total of 11,695.
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Although nine of the top 10 players were in action in Berlin (Swiatek skipped the tournament), there are will be no positional changes to the top 10 in the rankings come Monday.
WTA Top 10 After Berlin/Birmingham
1. Iga Swiatek – 11,695 points
2. Coco Gauff – 8,128
3. Aryna Sabalenka – 7,841
4. Elena Rybakina – 6,026
5. Jessica Pegula – 4,720
6. Marketa Vondrousova – 4,463
7. Jasmine Paolini – 4,068
8. Qinwen Zheng – 4,005
9. Maria Sakkari – 3,805
10. Ons Jabeur – 3,801
The Big Winners
Instead, the changes come further down the list as former world No 1 Victoria Azarenka is set to move up three places to No 15 after reaching the semi-final in Berlin.
But Anna Kalinskaya was the big winner in Germany as the 24-year-old will climb into the top 20 for the first time in her career after reaching the final.
The Russian played four matches en route to the final and got two three-set wins and two walkovers as Marketa Vondrousova and Aryna Sabalenka retired in the second round and quarter-final, respectively. Her previous career-high was 24.
Katerina Siniakova will also crack a career-high of No 27 as she is projected to climb three spots.
Outside the top 100, former world No 32 Ajla Tomljanovic will surge 55 places to No 135 after reaching the final of the Birmingham Classic – her first final in five years. The Australian has struggled with injury, but has found some good form ahead of Wimbledon.
The Big Losers
Petra Kvitova remains on the sidelines as she is currently on maternity leave and, as a result, her ranking is taking a big dip as she is set to drop another 70 places next week, which will put her at roughly No 125. The Czech was the defending champion in Berlin.
Former French Open winner Barbora Krejcikova is set to slip six places to No 31 and Donna Vekić is set to slide 10 places to No 49.
2024-06-22T19:26:17Z dg43tfdfdgfd