t’s a good week to be an American woman in the WTA.
Serena Williams moved up one spot to No. 2 in the world, and wunderkind Sloane Stephens jumped eight spots to No. 17 thanks to their efforts in the Australian Open last weekend.
Despite losing to Stephens in the quarterfinals, Williams surpassed Maria Sharapova for the No. 2 spot in the world, and closed within 355 points of No. 1 Victoria Azarenka, who defended her 2012 title on Sunday.
Also on the rise was runner-up Na Li, who climbed a spot back to No. 5, surpassing Angelique Kerber, and Marion Bartoli, who re-entered the Top 10 ahead of Caroline Wozniacki.
ATP
Missing the Australian Open caused Rafael Nadal to fall out of the ATP Top 5 for the first time since May of 2005, as he fell behind new No. 4 David Ferrer, who achieved the highest ranking of his career. The last time Nadal was ranked as low as fifth came in the clay court season of 2005 when he rocketed from 56th to 3rd in a matter of weeks as he came into his own and took the tour by storm, culminating in his first French Open title.
The rest of the men’s Top 10 was unchanged, a shocking lack of movement considering the first tournament of the year just wound up. Things continue to look dismal for American men as John Isner slipped three spots to No. 16.
The biggest gainer in the Top 25 was France’s Jeremy Chardy who rose 11 spots to No. 25 following his trip to the quarterfinals that included a third-round upset of Juan Martin Del Potro.
It’s the highest career rank to date for Chardy, who is slightly under .500 (111-112) for his career.