Coco Gauff’s ranking to career-high 13th; Nadal up to 4th
Jun 5, 2022, 12:52 PM | Updated: Jun 6, 2022, 12:54 am
Coco Gauff of the U.S., right, and Jessica Pegula of the U.S. talk as they play France's Caroline Garcia and France's Kristina Mladenovic during their women doubles final match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium Sunday, June 5, 2022 in Paris. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)
(AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)
PARIS (AP) — American teenager Coco Gauff rose to a career-best No. 13 in the WTA rankings on Monday after her runner-up finish to No. 1 Iga Swiatek at the French Open.
Gauff, an 18-year-old from Florida, jumped 10 spots by getting to her first Grand Slam final before losing to Swiatek 6-1, 6-3 on Saturday.
Gauff had never been past the quarterfinals at a major tournament. She made it to the finals of singles and doubles at Roland Garros.
Her doubles partner, Jessica Pegula, moved into the singles top 10 for the first time, going from No. 11 to No. 8, thanks to her run to the quarterfinals. Like Gauff, the 28-year-old from New York lost to Swiatek, who has now won her past 35 matches in a row.
Last year’s French Open champion in singles and doubles, Barbora Krejcikova, lost in the first round of singles this time — only the third woman in the professional era to exit in the first round at Roland Garros a year after earning the trophy — and dropped from No. 2 in the rankings to No. 14. She pulled out of the doubles event two days later, saying she tested positive for COVID-19.
The French Open’s effect on the rankings for both the WTA and ATP will hold sway longer than usual, because the two professional tours have announced they will not award points this year for Wimbledon, which starts on June 27.
That was in response to the All England Club’s decision to bar players from Russia and Belarus from the grass-court Grand Slam tournament because of the invasion of Ukraine.
Rafael Nadal’s 14th French Open title, and 22nd Grand Slam trophy overall, lifted him one place to No. 4 behind top-ranked Novak Djokovic.
Nadal beat Djokovic in the quarterfinals along the way to the final, where he overwhelmed Casper Ruud 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 on Sunday and became, two days after his 36th birthday, the oldest man to win the singles championship at Roland Garros — all despite needing pain-killing injections for a chronic problem in his left foot.
Nadal has won both of this year’s major titles so far, including the Australian Open in January, but his ranking is hurt by his lack of activity over the past 12 months. He played only two matches between the end of the 2021 French Open and the end of last season because of that foot, then missed more time this year because of that issue and a rib injury.
Ruud went up to a career-best No. 6 from No. 8 by reaching his first Grand Slam final.
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