By Nick Georgandis
Horacio Zeballos’ shocking win over Rafael Nadal Sunday in the Vina del Mar final paid off big time on Monday, as the Argentine soared 30 spots in the latest ATP rankings to No. 43, two spots from his career-best mark set in 2009.
The 2009 Newcomer of the Year on the ATP tour, Zeballos shocked No. 5 Nadal 6-7(2), 7-6(6), 6-4 to improve to 5-1 on the season, taking his first career title in the process.
Zeballos’ big win was the highlight of an otherwise stagnant week in the ATP rankings, as there was only one move in the Top 25, France’s Jeremy Chardy moving one spot up to 25th.
The other big jump came from Jarkko Nieminen, who rose 11 spots to No. 56 after reaching the semifinals at Montpellier. A former Top 15 player, Nieminen had fallen to 70th at the start of 2013.
In the WTA rankings, Caroline Wozniacki rejoined the Top 10, bouncing Marion Bartoli back to 11th.
Also bouncing around for what seems like the umpteenth week in a row are the mid-teens mixture of Anan Ivanovic and Maria Kirilenko. Ivanovic climbed up from 14th to 13th, dropping Kiriklenko back to 14th.