WTA/ATP rankings: A game of snakes and ladders! 

The first Grand Slam of the year featured a number of upsets, and this week’s rankings held their fair share of surprises too. There was plenty of movement among the world’s top tennis players, so let’s take a look!

Roger Federer Roland-Garros 2021©Philippe Montigny / FFT
 - Amandine Reymond

Up at the top 

Despite not competing in Melbourne, Novak Djokovic stayed at the top of the ATP rankings for the 104th consecutive week (since 3rd February 2020) but Daniil Medvedev is putting ever more pressure on the Serb. Runner-up at the Australian Open for the second year in a row, the Russian player will lose no points when those from the 2021 Australian Open (played in February) are taken away, unlike Novak Djokovic, who won the tournament last year. Currently 890 points behind the world number one, the pretender to the throne could further close the gap in the coming weeks, despite having withdrawn from next week’s tournament in Rotterdam. 

Having won his 21st Grand Slam title in Melbourne, Rafael Nadal maintained his No.5 ranking. He sits just ahead of Matteo Berrettini, who was a semi-finalist in Australia and is the only member of the Top 10 to have improved his ranking this week (+1). 

Roger Federer Wimbledon 2019©Corinne Dubreuil / FFT

Federer exits the Top 20

Absent from the courts since his quarterfinal appearance at Wimbledon back in July, Roger Federer, who underwent his third knee operation in August, benefitted from the rankings being frozen since 2020. But, by losing the 720 points he earned after reaching the semi-finals in Melbourne in 2020, he has dropped right down the rankings. He is outside the Top 20 for the first time since April 2001, and this week sits at world No.30. 

Dominic Thiem is another player whose ranking dropped significantly. The two-time runner-up at Roland-Garros (2018 and 2019) and 2020 US Open champion, who is suffering from a wrist injury, dropped 21 places down to No.37. Another player who has been away from competition for several months, Milos Raonic dropped 34 places and out of the Top 100 (No.119). 

Stan Wawrinka also slid down the rankings. Sitting just outside the Top 100 until last week, the 2015 Roland-Garros champion, who has been away from the tour since March 2021, dropped 57 places into No.159. 

However, it was good news for Andy Murray, who is gradually making his way back up the ladder. Down at No.172 in October, he climbed 11 places this week and is almost back in the Top 100 (No.102).

Ashleigh Barty Open d'Australie 2022©Corinne Dubreuil / FFT

Ashleigh Barty, settling in at the top

At the top of the WTA rankings since September 2019, Ashleigh Barty consolidated her lead by winning her first Australian Open, her third Grand Slam title (after Roland-Garros in 2019 and Wimbledon in 2021). With 8,331 points, she now has a 2,600-point lead over world No.2 Aryna Sabalenka. 

Also in the Top 10, Iga Swiatek is making good progress. A semi-finalist in Melbourne, the 2020 Roland-Garros champion has climbed four places back up to her best-ever ranking (No.4). Kudos to Danielle Collins, too, who shot up 20 places thanks to her final in Australia and has entered the Top 10 for the first time in her career (No.10).  

A bit further down the list, Alizé Cornet has also made a nice comeback by climbing 24 places up to No.37, while Kaia Kanepi, the surprise semi-finalist in Melbourne, jumped 52 places into No.63.  

Naomi Osaka / Australian Open 2022©Corinne Dubreuil / FFT

Osaka, Kenin and Brady slip down

Bad news for Naomi Osaka. The former world number one, who triumphed in Australia last year and was defeated in the third round this year, dropped 71 places and found herself down at No.85. This spectacular slide was topped by Sofia Kenin. The 2020 Australian Open champion lost all her points from this victory as well as 82 places in the rankings, to find herself down in 95th place. Fellow American Jennifer Brady, who was a semi-finalist Down Under in 2021, lost the same number of places and dropped out of the Top 100 (No.110).