Osaka back to No. 2; Medvedev No. 3

London, Feb 23 (AP): Naomi Osaka’s Australian Open championship moved her up one spot to No. 2 in the WTA rankings, while men’s finalist Daniil Medvedev rose to a career-best No. 3 behind winner Novak Djokovic on the ATP list.
Jennifer Brady, the 25-year-old American who was the runner-up to Osaka, jumped 11 spots to No. 13, her first time inside the Top 20.
Aslan Karatsev’s historic run from qualifying to the final four before losing to nine-time Australian Open champion Djokovic allowed him to vault 72 places from 114th to 42nd. He is the first man in the professional era to reach the semifinals in his debut in the main draw of a major tournament.
Despite winning the past two Grand Slam tournaments she entered, Osaka still trails No. 1 Ash Barty who lost in the quarterfinals at Melbourne Park because of the way the tennis tours are calculating what they’re calling “frozen” rankings following last season’s hiatus caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Essentially, in order for players’ rankings not to be hurt if they skipped events as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, the WTA gives credit for someone’s best 16 tournaments since March 2019.
Barty took nearly a full year off, for example, but still has her points from winning the 2019 French Open and reaching the semifinals at the 2020 Australian Open.
Serena Williams climbed four spots from No. 11 to No. 7 to get back into the Top 10 after making it to the semifinals in Australia a year after losing in the third round there.