Greece’s Maria Sakkari has moved up from 29 to 22 in this week’s WTA rankings, surpassing her previous career-high of 27 in the world despite only playing one match since the US Open.
Despite being forced to miss five of her last six tournaments due to a wrist injury, the 24-year-old from Athens was fortunate enough to not be defending many points this time of year, and therefore her period of inactivity did not cost her. Points from last year’s two season-ending tournaments (WTA Finals and WTA Elite Trophy) were removed today, meaning that Sakkari moved up seven spots since many players ranked ahead of her lost ranking points.
Sakkari currently has 1,741 ranking points. These include her points from the four Grand Slams (130 from the Australian Open, 70 from the French Open, 130 from Wimbledon, and 130 from the US Open), her points from the four Premier Mandatory events (10 from Indian Wells, 35 from Miami, 10 from Madrid, and 0 from Beijing, which she missed due to injury), points from her best two Premier 5 tournaments (380 from Rome and 190 from Cincinnati), and points from her six best other results (280 from Rabat, 185 from San Jose, 100 from Charleston, 60 from Nottingham, 30 from Eastbourne, and 1 from Toronto).
Sakkari will now compete in this year’s WTA Elite Trophy in Zhuhai, China, making her debut in the event. The tournament is designed for players ranked 9-20 (while the WTA Finals are for the top 8), however, the withdrawal of several players ranked 9-20 saw Sakkari sneak into this year’s field. As Sakkari did not take part in the event last year, she will have a chance to rise up the rankings even more, should she perform well in China.
CURRENT WTA RANKINGS:
1. Ashleigh Barty (Australia) – 6,476 points
2. Karolina Pliskova (Czech Republic) – 5,315 points
3. Naomi Osaka (Japan) – 5,246 points
4. Bianca Andreescu (Canada) – 5,041 points
5. Simona Halep (Romania) – 4,962 points
6. Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic) – 4,401 points
7. Belinda Bencic (Switzerland) – 4,120 points
8. Elina Svitolina (Ukraine) – 3,995 points
9. Serena Williams (United States) – 3,935 points
10. Kiki Bertens (Netherlands) – 3,870 points
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22. MARIA SAKKARI (GREECE) – 1,741 points
by Andrew Stamas
