Career-high ranking for Zvonareva after US Open
US Open runner-up Vera Zvonareva has moved to a career-high world No. 4 in the latest WTA rankings, released in the wake of the year’s final Grand Slam.
While it’s an achievement that reflects the Russian’s strong performances both at Flushing Meadows and at Wimbledon – where she was also a beaten finalist – had Zvonareva won the title she had the potential to become the world No. 2.
That position in the post-US Open rankings is retained by Caroline Wozniacki, the top seed that Zvonareva ousted in the semi-finals. Wozniacki lost ranking points after finishing as runner-up in 2009, but it wasn’t enough to remove the 20-year-old from her position behind world No. 1 Serena Williams in the rankings.
For Kim Clijsters, who defeated Zvonareva in the final as she completed a successful title defence, the rankings news is not so good, and she slips two places to world No. 5 courtesy of the improved performances of Zvonareva and another of her vanquished opponents in New York, Venus Williams.
Venus, beaten by Clijsters in the fourth round in 2009, reached the semi-finals in 2010 where a meeting with the Belgian was again her undoing but moves up one spot in this week’s rankings to world No. 3.
Jelena Jankovic, runner-up at the US Open in 2008, disappointed with a third round exit this year (following a second round defeat in 2009) and drops out of the top five to world No. 6 in a slight rankings reshuffle.
That still keeps her ahead of Sam Stosur, who improved from a second-round exit last year to become a quarter-finalist at the US Open in 2010, but gained no rankings joy as she slipped one spot to world No. 7 despite that career-best performance.
Elena Dementieva, defeated by Stosur in a late night epic in the round of 16, gains two places in this week’s rankings to re-enter the top-10 as the world No. 10.
Outside the top 10, former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic clawed back three places in the rankings to world No. 37 after showing signs of improvement in New York – that is before Clijsters dismissed her with ease in their fourth round match.
Dinara Safina’s ranking, however, is still headed in the wrong direction, with her first-round loss at Flushing Meadows resulting in a rankings drop from world No. 50 to world No. 59 this week.
One of the biggest drops this week though belongs to Melanie Oudin, the American teenager who in 2009 stormed into the semi-finals but who departed in the second round this year. As a result, her ranking has plunged 30 places to world No. 73.
There’s better news for British No. 1 Elena Baltacha as she breaks into the top-50 for the first time in her career, making her entry as the new world No. 49 after reaching the second round of the year’s final Grand Slam.
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