Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic replaced Rafael Nadal as No. 1 in the ATP rankings on Monday, while runner-up Roger Federer rose one spot to No. 3 in the world.
“It means a lot at this stage of my career,” said Djokovic, who was last in the top spot nine months ago.
This is the Serb’s 102nd week atop the men’s rankings overall, the eighth-longest stint in history.
Photo: AFP
In all, there were eight changes in the top 10 a day after Djokovic beat Switzerland’s Federer 6-7 (7), 6-4, 7-6 (4), 5-7, 6-4 for his second win at the All England Lawn Tennis Club and seventh Grand Slam title.
The 27-year-old first reached No. 1 after claiming the 2011 Wimbledon trophy and is the first man to qualify for this year’s season-ending ATP World Tour Finals, earning a berth for the eighth straight year.
Djokovic has won that event three times, including in 2012 and last year.
Andy Murray dropped five ranking spots to No. 10 on Monday by losing in the quarter-finals a year after becoming the first British man since 1936 to win Wimbledon.
Federer, who was bidding for a record eighth title at the grass-court tournament, swapped places with countryman Stanislas Wawrinka, the Australian Open champion, who slid to No. 4.
The two losing Wimbledon semifinalists moved to new career highs after getting to the final four at a major tournament for the first time: Milos Raonic of Canada is No. 6, and Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov is No. 9.
Raonic had been No. 9 before Wimbledon, with Dimitrov at No. 13.
The biggest jump in the top 100 was made by Nick Kyrgios, the 19-year-old Australian who overcame Spain’s Nadal in a shock fourth-round upset last week. Kyrgios went from 144th to a career-best 66th for a 78-place rise.
In the WTA rankings, Petra Kvitova’s second Wimbledon title allowed her to improve two places to No. 4. The woman she beat 6-3, 6-0 in Saturday’s final, 20-year-old Eugenie Bouchard, reached the top 10 for the first time at No. 7.
Bouchard, up from No. 13, is the highest-ranked Canadian in WTA history. She is also the first player from her country to reach a Grand Slam singles final.
The top three places did not change, with the US’ Serena Williams remaining No. 1, China’s Li Na ranked No. 2, and Simona Halep of Romania in third place.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set