Naomi Osaka moved up one spot to second in the WTA rankings released Monday following her success at the Australian Open, as she won her fourth Grand Slam title.
India’s Ankita Raina remained comfortably placed as the country’s No 1 in both singles and doubles. In singles, she moved up 13 places to reach 168. In doubles, she broke in to the top 100 by jumping 21 places to reach 94 which is her career best till date. The improvement in rankings came on the back of her Grand Slam debut in the doubles draw at Australian Open that was followed by her first WTA level title.
On Saturday, Osaka beat Jennifer Brady of the US in straight sets in the final to lift the trophy in Melbourne for the second time in three years.
Osaka, 23, trades places with Simona Halep, the Romanian dropping down to third after losing to Serena Williams in the quarter-finals.
Williams jumps up four places to seventh despite again falling short of a record-tying 24th major. The American was beaten by Osaka in the semi-finals.
The 25-year-old Brady, a semi-finalist at last year’s US Open, reached a career high of 13th on the back of her best Grand Slam performance to date.
Ashleigh Barty remains the world number one in spite of losing in the last eight to Karolina Muchova, who gained five spots in rising to 22nd.
Among men, Daniil Medvedev broke into the top three for the first time in Monday’s ATP rankings, while Russian compatriot Aslan Karatsev shot up 72 places after his shock run to the Australian Open semi-finals.
Medvedev finished runner-up at a Grand Slam for the second time as he was swept aside by top-ranked Novak Djokovic in Sunday’s final in Melbourne, the Serb collecting his 18th major title.
Former US Open finalist Medvedev switched spots with Dominic Thiem, who slipped to fourth after he was demolished by Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets in the last 16.
Bulgarian Dimitrov returned to the top 20 but the biggest move was Karatsev, a qualifier who became the first man in the Open era to reach the semi-finals of a major on a main draw debut.
Karatsev, 27, rose from 114th to 42nd after knocking out three seeds before his dream run was ended by Djokovic in the last four.
The win reinforced Djokovic’s status as world No 1, guaranteeing he will mark his 311th week there as of March 8, surpassing Roger Federer’s record of 310.
ATP rankings as of February 22 (points, change):
1. Novak Djokovic (SRB) 12030 pts
2. Rafael Nadal (ESP) 9850
3. Daniil Medvedev (RUS) 9735 (+1)
4. Dominic Thiem (AUT) 9125 (-1)
5. Roger Federer (SUI) 6630
6. Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) 6595
7. Alexander Zverev (GER) 5615
8. Andrey Rublev (RUS) 4609
9. Diego Schwartzman (ARG) 3480
10. Matteo Berrettini (ITA) 3480
WTA rankings as of February 22 (points, change):
1. Ashleigh Barty (AUS) 9186 pts
2. Naomi Osaka (JPN) 7835 (+1)
3. Simona Halep (ROM) 7255 (-1)
4. Sofia Kenin (USA) 5760
5. Elina Svitolina (UKR) 5370
6. Karolina Pliskova (CZE) 5205
7. Serena Williams (USA) 4915 (+4)
8. Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) 4810 (-1)
9. Bianca Andreescu (CAN) 4735
10. Petra Kvitova (CZE) 4571 (-2)
(With AFP inputs)