New USA Career-High Rankings, October 6, 2014

Each week I will bring you a list of USAmerican players who have reached a new career-high ranking. This list is not exhaustive but covers at least all players in the Top 1000.

New ATP career-high rankings, October 6, 2014

Player name	New CHR	Last wk *= pvs CHR	+  from last wk	Pvs CHR If prior to last wk	Date achieved If prior to last wk
Steve Johnson	42	46*	+4
Jared Donaldson	275	299*	+24
Bjorn Fratangelo	277	292*	+15		10/14/2013
Daniel Nguyen	348	362*	+14
Dennis Nevolo	351	379*	+28
Connor Smith	374	378*	+4
Dennis Novikov	432	436*	+4
Stefan Kozlov	443	763	+320	760	9/8/2014
Peter Kobelt	592	605*	+13
Alexander Sarkissian	622	690	+68	656	8/25/2014
Kyle McMorrow	665	673	+8	671	9/22/2014
Collin Altamirano	744	752	+8	749	9/8/2014
Spencer Papa	888	891*	+3		8/18/2014
Deiton Baughman	944	965*	+21		9/22/2014
Ryan Shane	1031	1034*	+3
Justin Shane	1103	1109*	+6
Tommy Paul	1134	1144*	+10
Michael Grant	1136	1146*	+10
Taylor Harry Fritz	1138	1273	+135	1227	4/7/2014
Collin Johns	1148	1157*	+9
Farzin Danny Amiri	1230	1232	+2	1231	9/22/2014
Carl Eguez	1270	1277	+7	1275	7/28/2014
Erik Elliott	1332	1334*	+2
Cameron Silverman	1340	1342*	+2
Reilly Opelka	1419	1426	+7	1423	9/22/2014
Gage Brymer	1541	1740*	+199
Clay Thompson	1625	1660*	+35
Aron Hiltzik	1628	1636*	+8		7/21/2014

28 names is by far the most we've featured for American men.  Yes, half of them are outside the top 1000 but even 14 career highs inside the Top 1000 is notable.  Last week there were only 7, the week before, only 6.

Of course, the biggest name of the week is Stefan Kozlov, who had a magical run of three straight three-setters to get to the Sacramento Challenger final.  As Greg Sharko mentioned, he's the youngest American challenger finalist, and the first 16-year-old American in the Top 500, since Michael Chang.  Exciting times we blog in!

After all the buzz over Kozlov, Jared Donaldson was practically forgotten.  But his run to the Sacramento quarters got him to #275, aka in great shape to make the Australian Open qualies cut-off.  Fratangelo's exceptional run has gotten him to #277, also very close. Speaking of Oz, Johnson inched ever closer to a possible seed by moving up to #42 with little to defend until Melbourne.  Lastly, some Irvine Futures results from two weeks ago helped several guys reach new CHRs, including Nevolo, Sarkissian, and Fritz.  Nevolo still has a bunch of points to defend this year (2 of his top 4 results) but is in much better position to stay in the top 400.

New WTA career-high rankings, October 6, 2014

Player name	New CHR	Last wk *= previous   CHR	+  from last week	Pvs CHR If prior to last wk	Date achieved If prior to last wk
Madison Brengle	96	98*	+2
Louisa Chirico	192	194*	+2
Jennifer Brady	323	326*	+3
Danielle Lao	356	357*	+1
Caitlin Whoriskey	387	388*	+1
CiCi Bellis	419	425*	+6
Lauren Embree	421	427	+6	425	9/22/2014
Katerina Stewart	432	434*	+2
Alexa Guarachi	587	593	+6	591	9/22/2014
Nadja Gilchrist	644	656	+12	654	9/15/2014
Julia Elbaba	690	692	+2		9/22/2014
Alexandria Stiteler	813	830*	+17
Kelly Chen	861	865	+4	863	8/25/2014
Rianna Valdes	909	974	+65	965	8/4/2014
Emma Higuchi	930	931*	+1
Kate Turvy	1008	1009	+1		9/22/2014
Kristina Smith	1141	1143	+2		9/22/2014
Jessica Failla	1161	1164	+3	1162	9/8/2014
Kaitlyn McCarthy	1164	1167	+3	1165	9/8/2014

By far the most interesting part of this week's list is how few big movers there are.  Only two in the entire Top 200 reached new CHRs and they each did so without playing.  The Asian swing hasn't been particularly kind to US women, and now that the Albuquerque/Las Vegas swing is over, it's pretty slim pickings for the 150-300 crowd.  The only player moving up more than 20 spots was Rianna Valdes - a USC recruit - who reached the quarterfinals at the Amelia Island $10K event a couple of weeks ago.

Nevertheless, I do want to give another shout-out to Madison Brengle, for whom Top 100 speculation was considered a pipe dream only a year ago.  She's in Europe this week - and just qualified for the main draw of Linz.  While she's still defending quite a few points this month, the 18 she earned in 3 matches in Austria will go a long way to keeping her in the Top 100 through the end of the year and securing her first-ever direct acceptance into the main draw of a major (Australia).

And finally, just a quick WELCOME BACK to Jessie Pegula, who returned from surgery to win a match at the $10K in Hilton Head Island this past week.  Although she had to retire in her second round match against eventual champion Marie Bouzkova (who you might remember as the US Girls Champ - she didn't lose a set all week in South Carolina), we hope to continue to see her in action as she works her way back into the Top 500 and far higher!