Despite her 9-12 win-loss record this year, Emma Raducanu moves into the Top 10 for the first time in her career, while Wimbledon finalists Elena Rybakina and Ons Jabeur are not seeing ranking benefits from their career-best performances.
Tennis is going through the toughest period in recent history. First the coronavirus wreak havoc on the tennis calendar, as numerous tournaments were suspended, or at best rescheduled, plus, quarantines and other government-imposed procedures extremely complicated the lives of players and tournament organizers.
Just as we started breathing again after the pandemic has subsided, Russia invaded Ukraine and the conflict started affecting the tennis world as tournaments chose to sanction Russian and Belarusian players. As the WTA tried to punish events for doing this, most notably Wimbledon, in an effort to keep the sport unaffected by politics, Steve Simon, WTA Chairman, stripped The Championships of ranking points.
As a result, the WTA standings following Wimbledon are treating some players with generous gifts while others are not being recognized for their superior performances.
After winning the 2021 US Open, Emma Raducanu has suffered second-round exits at all the subsequent majors, including Wimbledon, where she lost to unseeded Caroline Garcia in the second round. Even though she won back-to-back matches just three times since triumphing in New York last September, Raducanu has now climbed to No.10, becoming the fifth British woman to achieve the feat since the WTA Rankings system was introduced, joining Virginia Wade, Sue Barker, Jo Durie and Johanna Konta.
Women’s singles champion Elena Rybakina has earned two million pounds, but in terms of ranking, the Kazakh player has stayed without awards, keeping her No.23 position, although she should have moved up to a career-high of No.6.
Ons Jabeur played Wimbledon at a career-high ranking of No.2. Even though she reached the final, topping her last year’s quarterfinal finish, the Tunisian has fallen three spots to No.5. Anett Kontaveit is now back to No.2, even though she lost in the second round.
Tennis is going through a very difficult period and we can only applaud the WTA Chairman for handling the pressure and making so many courageous and tough decisions one after the other. We have to admit that the situation with the rankings is a mess right now, but that is a reflection of the world we’re living in.
Total nonsense that Raducanu is ranked No.10.
Her results have been appalling since 2021.
However, she will lose many ranking points after the US Open 2022.
Somewhat, a one hit wonder !!