Before I get to this week's update, a note about why I do this. There are two main reasons I cover career-high rankings each week - because I'm a little bit obsessed with rankings, and because I want to celebrate achievements of American players - particularly up-and-coming players. But I also want to recognize some of the downside of this. Serena and Venus Williams can never appear on the list, as there's nothing higher than #1. Moreover, an obsession with rankings isn't necessarily healthy, either for the sport or for players. They are merely numbers - relative numbers - and ultimately are ONLY practically useful for determining tournament entry and seeds (and perhaps trigger a bonus from sponsors). No ranking will win a match, improve strokes, or say anything about the worth of a person. I know that sounds self-evident but I just don't want anyone to think that I'm more or less invested in players just because they're at a given number. Anyway, on to the new highs...
New ATP Career-High Rankings, June 8, 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
|
Jack Sock
|
31
|
37
|
+6
|
33
|
5/11/2015
|
Bjorn Fratangelo
|
144
|
149
|
+5
|
147
|
5/18/2015
|
Jared Donaldson
|
152
|
153*
|
+1
| ||
Connor Smith
|
203
|
271
|
+68
|
244
|
5/4/2015
|
Alexander Sarkissian
|
210
|
312*
|
+102
| ||
Daniel Nguyen
|
227
|
242
|
+15
|
241
|
5/18/2015
|
Stefan Kozlov
|
359
|
373*
|
+14
| ||
Tommy Paul
|
452
|
528*
|
+76
| ||
Michael Mmoh
|
614
|
633
|
+17
|
631
|
5/11/2015
|
Alex Rybakov
|
969
|
1221*
|
+252
| ||
Nicholas A. Reyes
|
1519
|
1732
|
+66
|
1589
|
9/8/2014
|
Not included: Matt Seeberger (1356 / +8), Frederick Saba (1436 / +13)
Jack Sock had third-round points to defend and a first round opponent ranked #11 in the world but that didn't stop him from reaching a new career high at Roland Garros. His demolitions of Grigor Dimitrov and Borna Coric in the first and third rounds, and game effort against Rafael Nadal in the fourth round, confirmed for many people that this was an American (although by no means the "only American who matters") to watch. Sock is not scheduled to play this week or next, so his possible Wimbledon seeding is very much up in the air - it will depend on how those below him do. After his rough start to the year, it would be amazing to finally see him with a number after his name in a major draw.
Everything else happened in a span of three weeks - French Open qualies are included in this update, as are Futures results from the weeks of May 18 and May 25 and challengers from May 25 and June 1.
Bjorn Fratangelo had a run to the Vincenza Challenger semis - his third such run this year - and he won a round in Roland Garros qualifying. Bjorn had some big Futures results last summer, so he'll need a few more of those challenger results to compensate and rise a bit more.
Jared Donaldson won two rounds of qualies at Roland Garros, but was done for, as was Bjorn, by Nikoloz Basilashvili.
Connor Smith reached the final of Korea F2 futures, then turned around and reached his first challenger final, also in Korea! Two huge weeks for another guy who had big results last summer and can use the cushion. Alex Sarkissian though, had the biggest week. He beat Smith in the Gimcheon Challenger final to grab 80 gigantic points (his previous best results were a pair of 27 point Futures wins). He's now in the Top 150 in the ATP Race. Remarkable from the former community college player!
Mexico F4: Stefan Kozlov reached the semifinal. He's not defending any points until the U.S. Open so a few key results will move him up. Good to see him get some confidence back. Nicholas Reyes qualified and won a main draw match over a fellow qualifier for his point.
Spain F14: Tommy Paul and Alex Rybakov both got to the semis, great results from the teens. Rybakov especially - he qualified and beat the #1 seed in the quarters. Paul beat the #2 seed.
Italy F11: Tommy Paul won. The whole damn thing. Top 500. Alex Rybakov won his first round match.
Romania F4: Michael Mmoh reached the quarters (beat the #1 seed in the 2nd round).
New WTA Career-High Rankings, June 8, 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
|
Irina Falconi
|
71
|
85
|
+14
|
73
|
10/10/2011
|
Louisa Chirico
|
110
|
115
|
+5
|
112
|
5/11/2015
|
Lauren Embree
|
259
|
262*
|
+3
|
5/18/2015
| |
| Ellie Halbauer |
495
|
499*
|
+4
| ||
Ingrid Neel
|
501
|
507*
|
+6
| ||
Claire Liu
|
817
|
823
|
+6
| ||
Kaitlyn McCarthy
|
821
|
828
|
+7
|
827
|
4/27/2015
|
| Dasha Ivanova |
823
|
831
|
+8
|
828
|
5/18/2015
|
Madeleine Kobelt
|
1077
|
1117
|
+40
|
1103
|
11/11/2013
|
Not included: Alexandria Valenstein (1077), Jessica Golovin (1176), Mercedes Hammond (1211), Ashley Kratzer (1211),
Surprisingly, the only big result here was Irina Falconi's run to the Roland Garros third round, which catapulted her to heights not seen since her breakout US Open in 2011, when she upset Klara Koukalova and Dominika Cibulkova [14], each in three sets, before falling to Sabine Lisicki. Amazingly, her paycheck then was $53,000 - just more than half of what she took home from Paris this year! Like 2011, maintaining her momentum will be a huge challenge. Back then, Falconi won her next match in Quebec City and then went on a 5 match losing streak, all in WTA events, all in straight sets. Unfortunately, she got off to a rough start this week in s-Hertogenbosch, falling to #6 seed Camila Giorgi 7-5 6-2. But ultimately her dedication and experience should prove to be a huge help this time around.
Louisa Chirico added 10 points thanks to her wild card - a mere appearance in the Roland Garros main draw gave her points AND a $32,231 paycheck. So yeah, playing Indian Harbour Beach was a big deal for her.
Madeleine Kobelt qualified for the $10K in Netanya, Israel, and won a round against a wild card. The Syracuse alum isn't defending anything for the rest of the year, so every main draw win should get her on this list from here on out.
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