Jannik Sinner rose to the top of the ATP world rankings on Monday after dethroning injured Serbian Novak Djokovic.
The tennis player, aged only 22, is the first Italian to reach world number one since the adoption of computerized rankings in 1973. He will be the favorite at the Wimbledon tournament, which will begin on 1er July.
Sinner is 33-3 this season and has won three titles, including her first Grand Slam at the Australian Open in January. This conquest was part of his irresistible streak of 19 consecutive victories to start the 2024 season.
Two of his three defeats were inflicted by Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz. One of them occurred in five sets in the semi-finals of the French Open last Friday, setting the table for Alcaraz’s title victory against German Alexander Zverev two days later.
It was Alcaraz’s third career Grand Slam title, also allowing him to overtake Djokovic in the world rankings to move into second place, just ahead of the Serb. Zverev remained in fourth place.
For his part, Félix Auger-Aliassime jumped three places in the world rankings and is now at 18e rank. The Quebecer was eliminated 6-3, 6-3 and 6-1 by Alcaraz in the fourth round of the French Open last week. Auger-Aliassime is the only representative of the maple leaf in the world top 100.
His compatriot Denis Shapovalov moved up one place and is now 117e position. Alexis Galarneau (164e), Gabriel Diallo (165e) and Milos Raonic (197e) follow, in order.
Among the ladies, Iga Swiatek’s third consecutive title victory at Roland Garros – and her fourth in five years, in total – allowed her to consolidate her hold on first place in the WTA world rankings.
Swiatek was already far ahead of her opponents at the dawn of the French Open, so much so that she would have remained at the top of the world rankings even if she had lost in the first round of the tournament.
Coco Gauff climbed to second in the world, a career high for her. The 20-year-old American, last year’s US Open champion, made the semi-finals at Roland Garros before losing to the Pole. Gauff and her playing partner Katerina Siniakova also won their first Grand Slam title together in women’s doubles.
For her part, two-time Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka is now ranked third in the world, followed by 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina.
Jasmine Paolini, a 28-year-old Italian who lost to Swiatek in her first career Grand Slam final appearance, has jumped to seventh in the world. She thus cracked the top-10 for the first time in her career; she was 15e before the start of Roland-Garros.
Quebecer Leylah Annie Fernandez now occupies 33e global position, up one step. The Laval resident lost 6-4, 7-6 (5) to Tunisian Ons Jabeur in the third round of the French Open last week.
Her compatriots Rebecca Marino (157th), Marina Stakusic (174th) are the only two other Canadian players in the world top-200. 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu, who made her return to play at Roland Garros, remained ranked 228th in the world.
With The Canadian Press