New USA Career-High Rankings, March 2, 2015

Each week I will bring you a list of USAmerican players who have reached a new career-high ranking (CHR). This list covers all players in the Top 1000. Any player outside the Top 1000 will not be included unless they actually have earned at least one point from their previous career-high ranking. See all the CHR posts.

New WTA Career-High Rankings, March 2, 2015

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 Keys	18	19*	+1
Nicole Gibbs	84	86*	+2		2/16/2015
Grace Min	97	98*	+1
Louisa Chirico	145	149	+4	148	2/16/2015
Caitlin Whoriskey	282	291	+9	290	2/9/2015
Lauren Embree	324	338	+14	335	2/9/2015
Alexandra Morozova	598	828	+230	824	2/2/2015
Nicole Frenkel	649	650*	+1		2/16/2015
Alexandra Riley	691	775	+84	725	12/15/2014
Usue Arconada	709	715*	+6
Kelly Chen	716	817	+101	814	1/12/2015
Jessica Failla	839	1117	+278	1100	2/2/2015
Jessica Ho	892	1064	+172	1050	2/2/2015
Caroline Dolehide	985	1013*	+28
Malika Rose	1183	1212	+29	1203	2/2/2015

Louisa Chirico advancing to her first WTA main draw, in Acapulco, was the highlight of the week in terms of the Top 200. She continues to have uneven results - she had a fantastic 67 61 60 win over Ula Radwanska in qualies, then a disheartening 16 63 75 loss to lucky loser Mariana Duque-Marino in her main draw debut  - but that's not unexpected for a teenager. She's now the 7th-ranked teenager in the WTA.

All the other highs took place due to:

Surprise $25K: Caitlin Whoriskey, Lauren Embree, and Jessica Failla all reached the quarterfinals, while Kelly Chen and Jessica Ho got to the 2nd Round. Caroline Dolehide got 1 point due to her main draw appearance (via wild card).

Cuernavaca $25K: Ginormous jump for newly 20-year-old Alexandra "Sasha" Morozova, who qualified for and then reached the semifinal of this Mexican event. The 19 points she earned for her efforts are by far the largest haul of her career (previous best was 6 for a 2nd round appearance last October in Rock Hill, S.C.). Another Alexandra - "Xan" Riley - also qualified and beat fellow qualifier Malika Rose in the first round. Of interest to some, Riley was featured in this Philadelphia news segment about her and her dad:

Lastly, Usue Arconada qualified for Cuernavaca. In all, 6 of the 8 qualifiers at that tournament were American.

New ATP Career-High Rankings, March 2, 2015

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
Bjorn Fratangelo	170	172*	+2		2/16/2015
Jared Donaldson	173	174*	+1		2/16/2015
Connor Smith	287	289*	+2
Mitchell Krueger	288	292*	+4
Jean-Yves Aubone	471	478	+7	475	7/9/2009
Peter Kobelt	526	534*	+8
Alexander Sarkissian	542	546*	+4
Tommy Paul	772	790*	+18
Michael Grant	987	991*	+4
Andre Dome	991	1020	+29	998	2/16/2015
Dennis Uspensky	1490	1643	+153	1519	10/14/2013

Not included: Reilly Opelka (1104)

Like Keys and Gibbs above, the four guys at the top, plus Alexander Sarkissian and Michael Grant, all improved due to others' falling. But that's not to take anything away from them. Rankings aren't the be-all and end-all of a player's career (they certainly don't reflect "true ability" whatever that means) but they do have tangible effects on careers in terms of where and who you play next. Every spot can make a difference. Plus, this blog is all about celebrating accomplishment, even if it's incremental.

Here are the results, all from the week of Feb. 16, that lifted the others:

USA F8 (Plantation): 17-year-old Tommy Paul reached the quarters here, upsetting Yannick Maden (who had defeated him the previous week) in the process. 18-year-old Dennis Uspensky made it to the 2nd Round, as did Jean-Yves Aubone.

Aubone's point was particularly sweet because it gave him his first new CHR since he was in college, and also because he's in the beginning stages of returning from injury and learning how to move differently on court. He has a couple of great write-ups for Tennis Atlantic - definitely check out both January and February.

Sri Lanka F3: Andre Dome (another one who'd had years pass between career highs) qualified and won his first round match.

Turkey F7: Peter Kobelt won a match before falling to former Top 75 player Cedrik-Marcel Stebe, who is on the comeback trail from injury.