New USA Career-High Rankings, Oct. 5, 12 & 19

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

It's been great to see the continued improvements on the live-tennis.eu site for both ATP and WTA players including ages and career-high rankings, with special notice for new career highs. It almost (almost) makes my work here moot but since this is a USA-focused blog, and one that provides some additional details, I will continue this periodic update for now. Please let me know in comments if you have suggestions for improvements!

Guide:

• If the ranking was a new career high, it will be noted in bold. 
• If it tied his or her previous career high, it will be noted with an asterisk.* 
• If it marks his or her debut in the ranking it will be noted in red.

New ATP Career-High Rankings, October 5-19, 2015

Player name	10/5/15 ranking	10/12/15 ranking	10/19/15 ranking	Previous CHR	Date achieved
Denis Kudla	67	65	68	73	9/28/2015
Austin Krajicek	124	97	96	113	8/17/2015
Mitchell Krueger	231	230	234	239	8/17/2015
Frances Tiafoe	254	255	228	251	9/21/2015
Nicolas Meister	328	288	289	302	2/2/2015
Tommy Paul	351	329	321	344	9/21/2015
Deiton Baughman	361	352	355	372	9/28/2015
Sekou Bangoura	387	372	369	419	9/28/2015
Noah Rubin	543	527	526	532	7/14/2015
Jared Hiltzik	574	578	585	611	9/28/2015
Taylor Fritz	694	339	232	667	9/14/2015
Eric Johnson	704	709	719	707	9/21/2015
Alexios Halebian	782	780	658	753	8/31/2015
Michael Grant	838	842	846	844	9/15/2015
Ryan Shane	882	888	889	1020	11/3/2015
Nathan Pasha	932	930	920	944	9/28/2014
Winston Lin	934	933	933*	982	9/14/2015
Hunter Nicholas	976	953	955	969	9/28/2015
Gonzales Austin	1125	1084	1085	1117	9/28/2015
Alexander Centenari	1363	1370	1373	1462	9/14/2015
Tim Kopinski	1447	1348	1356	1436	9/28/2015
Nicholas Podesta	1447	1458	1464	1463	6/22/2015
Robert Galloway	1744	1544	1571	n/a	n/a
Ulises Blanch	n/a	1998	2001	n/a	n/a
Strong Kirchheimer	n/a	1998	2001	n/a	n/a

Highlights:

Austin "Danger" Krajicek: The best week of his professional tennis life happened the week of October 5, which Austin Krajicek reached the quarterfinals of the ATP 500 tournament in Tokyo as a qualifier. That result vaulted him into the Top 100 for the first time and should secure his spot in the 2016 Australian Open - his first grand slam direct entry. A good run at a Challenger or two this fall will cement that.

Those teens: 17-year-old Taylor Fritz's historic back-to-back Challenger wins got everyone's attention, of course, and for good reason. He's seemingly locked up his place in qualifying at the Australian Open, and will have plenty of wildcards coming his way. How he balances Challengers and tour-level events next year will be a matter of great interest.

Frances Tiafoe (17) is also looking good for the Aussie qualies thanks to his semifinal run in Fairfield. Tommy Paul (18) picked up first round wins in Sacramento and Fairfield; Deighton Baughman (19) reached the semis of the Costa Mesa Futures and got his first Challenger win in Medellin; Noah Rubin (19) notched 5 wins over two Futures; and 17-year-old Ulises Blanch got his breakthrough first ATP point at a Futures in Argentina.

Breakthroughs: Nicolas Meister (Sacramento QF) made his Top 300 debut; Sekou Bangoura (2 Challenger match wins) made his Top 400 debut; Jared Hiltzik made his Top 600 debut; Alexios Halebian (USA F29 finalist) made his Top 700 debut; and Ryan Shane (USA F27 champ) made his Top 1000 (and Top 900) debut.

New WTA Career-High Rankings, October 5-19, 2015

Player name	10/5/15 ranking	10/12/15 ranking	10/19/15 ranking	Previous CHR	Date achieved
Samantha Crawford	182	178*	175	178	9/21/2015
Kristie Ahn	236	223	224	248	9/14/2015
Danielle Lao	276*	265	269	276	9/28/2015
Robin Anderson	361	364	363	371	9/28/2015
Sabrina Santamaria	814	519	520	811	9/28/2015
Alexa Graham	536	541	482	530	9/14/2015
Raveena Kingsley	653	658	643	648	9/21/2015
Caroline Price	905	812	782	886	7/13/2015
Francesca Di Lorenzo	905	852	849	891	8/10/2015
Nicole Coopersmith	876	876*	825	892	9/21/2015
Eva Raszkiewicz	930	928	924	929	5/18/2015
Amy Zhu	1082	1045	1043	1081	9/28/2015
Ashley Kratzer	1184	1144	1141	1158	8/10/2015
Shelby Talcott	n/a	1253	1254	n/a	n/a

Highlights:

California Girls: 4 of the top 5 women on this list went to college in California, and all picked up points at $50Ks over the past month. Kristie Ahn (Stanford) reached 2 quarterfinals in Mexico. Danielle Lao (USC) got a win in Kirkland, Washington. Robin Anderson (UCLA) got some points by qualifying for Las Vegas. Sabrina Santamaria (USC) was a surprise semifinalist as a qualifier in Kirkland (she finally lost to Nicole Gibbs (USC Stanford)).

Breakthroughs: Into the Top 500 for Alexa Graham (17), who won a $10K in Hilton Head Island, S.C. Into the Top 800 for Caroline Price (UNC) reached the final of the $10K in Charleston, S.C. but the final was canceled thanks to persistent rain. And into the rankings for Shelby Talcott (Iowa), who got her minimum 3rd point at a $10K in Tunisia.

New USA Career-High Rankings, August 24 & 31 AND Sept. 14

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

Note: Unfortunately I missed doing the biweekly Career-High Rankings update on August 31 (in part because it was the first day of the US Open) so here we go with THREE weeks of CHRs: August 24, August 31, and the post-US Open rankings of September 14. I'm going to try something a bit different: just list their rankings each week. 

• If that ranking was a new career high, it will be noted in bold. 
• If it tied his or her previous career high, it will be noted with an asterisk.* 
• If it marks his or her debut in the ranking it will be noted in red.

New ATP Career-High Rankings, August 24-September 14, 2015

Player name	8/24/15 ranking	8/31/15 ranking	9/14/15 ranking	Previous CHR	Date achieved
Jack Sock	35	30	28	30	6/15/2015
Denis Kudla	74	75	77	78	8/17/2015
Jared Donaldson	146	146	142	150	8/3/2015
Alexander Sarkissian	207	207	193	201	7/27/2015
Frances Tiafoe	275	257	253	271	8/17/2015
Kevin King	299	304	284	287	4/27/2015
Tommy Paul	430	437	345	429	8/3/2015
Wil Spencer	568	560	555	561	7/20/2015
Clay Thompson	592	599	586	588	8/10/2015
Taylor Fritz	678	685	667	675	7/27/2015
Mico Santiago	705	711	684	707	8/10/2015
Eric Johnson	975	982	717	964	8/3/2015
Alex Rybakov	811	818	721	849	8/10/2015
Alexios Halebian	783	753	765	776	7/13/2015
Michael Grant	942	852	844	896	7/20/2015
Justin Shane	813	819	854	928	12/1/2014
Reilly Opelka	1024	1035	868	1104	3/2/2015
Cameron Silverman	1064	1046	936	1029	7/20/2015
Winston Lin	997	1003	982	993	8/17/2015
Hunter Nicholas	1002	1008	986	987	8/3/2015
Raleigh Smith	1158	1172	1069	1155	7/20/2015
Gonzalez Austin	1249	1265	1202	1244	8/3/2015
Samuel Shropshire	1614	1451	1417	1499	7/29/2013
Alexander Centenari	1690	1720	1462	1693	7/27/2015
Tim Kopinski	1870	1893	1582	1940	8/5/2013
Olukayode Ayeni	n/a	n/a	1729	1458	7/29/2013
Robert Levine	n/a	n/a	1729	n/a	n/a
James Wasserman	n/a	n/a	1729	n/a	n/a
Konrad Zieba	n/a	n/a	2150	n/a	n/a

Rather than cover how all 29 men and 18 women achieved new CHRs, I thought it better for everyone to provide some highlights:

Sock & Kudla: Born 5 weeks apart, opponents in the last all-American U.S. Open junior singles final prior to 2015, and the two highest ranked American men with new CHRs in the past few weeks. Jack Sock didn't do much - a win in Cincinnati, a win at the U.S. Open - but it was better than last year, when he lost first round at both tournaments. Denis Kudla also didn't do much, but given that he was inactive at this time last year with mono, just the two qualifying wins in Cincinnati got him enough of a boost to grab that CHR.

"Juniors": I put that in scare quotes because as of now, most (but not all) of them are done playing junior tournaments. Donaldson, Tiafoe, Paul, Fritz, and Opelka have all gone pro, and will continue to push themselves and each other. Rybakov is heading to college where he will have among the highest ATP rankings of all the players.

Paul, of course, was the lone American male to qualify for the U.S. Open. Tiafoe qualified for Winston-Salem then won a match there in a 3rd set tiebreak before losing his 2nd round match in a 3rd set tiebreak. Donaldson beat Nicolas Mahut in Cincinnati. Opelka won a round in U.S. Open qualifying. Rybakov reached a Futures quarterfinal then a semifinal.

USCers: Michael Grant reached successive quarterfinals at 2 Futures in Gabon; Eric Johnson won a Futures in Israel.

Newbies: Welcome to the rankings, courtesy of your first ATP point! 16-year-old Olukayode Ayeni scored a win over Dennis Nevolo at a Futures in Calgary, Canada. 18-year-olds Robert Levine and James Wasserman each got a win at a different Futures in Canada (Winnipeg). And 20-year-old Northwestern University student Konrad Zieba got a win at a Futures in Poland.

New WTA Career-High Rankings, August 24-September 14, 2015

Player name	8/24/15 ranking	8/31/15 ranking	9/14/15 ranking	Previous CHR	Date achieved
Irina Falconi	72	73	64	69	6/29/2015
Samantha Crawford	220	221	217	218	7/8/2013
Kristie Ahn	311	313	248	304	6/15/2009
Robin Anderson	416	419	406	463	5/26/2014
Ellie Halbauer	428	431	412	425	8/10/2015
Nicole Frenkel	424	427	423	456	8/17/2015
Alexa Graham	539*	534	530	539	8/17/2015
Claire Liu	827	834	536	817	6/8/2015
Julia Jones	643	648	567	635	8/3/2015
Lauren Herring	671	676	588	669	8/17/2015
Michaela Gordon	625	631	612	619	7/27/2015
Raveena Kingsley	n/a	n/a	650	n/a	n/a
Sofia Kenin	765	778	661	756	7/27/2015
Jaeda Daniel	749	754	753	754	7/27/2015
Sophie Chang	808	819	808*	825	8/10/2015
Maegan Manasse	832	838	835	846	8/10/2015
Karyn Guttormsen	879	888	887	934	8/17/2015
Nicole Coopersmith	n/a	n/a	897	n/a	n/a

College women: No fewer than 7 college or former college players made the list. Falconi continues to be the highest, and her accomplishments continue to impress. She picked up a win at the U.S. Open before dropping an entertaining three setter to Venus Williams. Robin Anderson reached the Landisville $25K final. Lauren Herring reached the semis of a $15K in Mexico, as did Julia Jones. Karyn Guttormsen notched 2 wins at a $10K in Tunisia.

And Kristie Ahn got her first new CHR since 5 months into the first Obama administration, by virtue of winning a $25K tournament in Winnipeg.

Crawford: A tip of the visor to Samantha Crawford, whose career didn't take off as some expected after winning the 2012 US Open girls' singles title, but who, somewhere out of nowhere, reached the final of the $50K in Lexington last month. That proved enough to get her near her 2013 career high, and the 10 points she earned by playing the first round of the U.S. Open was enough to put her over the top. She'll jump into the Top 200 on Monday after adding her Quebec City run this week, and will very likely spend the rest of the year there, as she's only defending 21 points the rest of the fall.

Juniors: Halbauer (18) - Landisville $25K 2R, Frenkel (17) - Landisville QF, Graham (17) - Landisville FRQ, Liu (15) - U.S. Open FRQ!, Gordon (16) - Winnipeg $25K 1R, Kingsley (17) - U.S. Open 2RQ (welcome!), Kenin (16) - U.S. Open 1R loss, Daniel (16) - Westende $25K 1R (qualified), and Chang (18) - Landisville 1R (qualified) are some of the up & coming talent for USA.

A huge congratulations to Coopersmith, who qualified for a $10K in Cakovec, Croatia, and went on to beat 5 players, including 4 seeds (3 of whom are Top 500 players) to win the tournament. Her mother, Maja Palaversic Coopersmith, was a Yugoslavian, then Croatian pro who had a career high of #117. One of her wins was over Roberta Vinci, which is kind of crazy if you think about it. Anyway, way to go, Nicole!