Polish teenager, Sinner and Podoroska rise up the rankings on their breakout Paris fortnights.
© Cédric Lecocq/FFTRoland-Garros celebrations will not be merely limited to the champions departing Paris with the silverware in tow.
While Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal were assured of maintaining the top two spots in the men’s rankings regardless of the final, women’s champion Iga Swiatek led a host of players who shot up the rankings this past fortnight.
Here we look at those moving on up as a result of their Roland-Garros feats.
The 19-year-old Pole was the breakout story of Roland-Garros 2020. Having started the fortnight as world No.54, Swiatek had shown little to suggest she was on the verge of her maiden Grand Slam title.
She had fallen first round, third round and first round in her past three tournaments. The teenager avenged a fourth round Roland-Garros defeat to top seed Simona Halep from last year and beat No.4 seed Sofia Kenin for the title, lifting her to a new career-best world No.17.
The first Argentinian woman to reach the semi-finals in Paris since Paola Suarez in 2004, Nadia Podoroska had a dream three weeks. The 23-year-old entered Roland-Garros qualifying as the world No.131 with career earnings of $301,547, but after beating No.4 seed Elina Svitolina in the quarter-finals, she guaranteed herself $425,250 for her Paris efforts and a new ranking of No.48.
©Philippe Montigny / FFTLike Podoroska, Italian Martina Trevisan had never won a main draw match at a Grand Slam. The world No.159 cut a swathe through the qualifying draw and brought down Coco Gauff, No.24 seed Maria Sakkari and No.5 seed Kiki Bertens to reach her first major quarter-final before running into Swiatek. The 26-year-old cracks the top 100 for the first time to hit her highest ranking of No.83.
©Julien Crosnier / FFTThree times the diminutive Argentinian, Diego Schwartzman, had fallen in a Grand Slam quarter-final, but by virtue of beating third seed Dominic Thiem to reach his maiden semi-final at a major the world No.14 cracks the top 10 for the first time to depart Roland-Garros as the world No.8. His previous best mark was No.11, achieved after his run to the 2018 Roland-Garros quarter-finals.
The 19-year-old Italian, Jannik Sinner, lived up to the hype when he took down No.11 seed David Goffin and No.6 seed Alexander Zverev en route to the quarter-finals on debut. While 12-time champion Nadal had his number in straight sets, it brought an end to an impressive two weeks as the teenager jumped 29 spots to make his top 50 debut at No.46.
After capturing his third title of the season in Hamburg leading in, Russian world No.12 Andrey Rublev fought back from two sets down to beat Sam Querrey in the first round in Paris and went on to reach his third Grand Slam quarter-final. Despite bowing out against Stefanos Tsitsipas, Rublev cracks the top 10 for the first time at No.10.
©Corinne Dubreuil / FFTThe 2015 junior champion, Paula Badosa, reached the fourth round at a major for the first time in Paris this year. The 22-year-old Spaniard jumps 21 places to No.66 following victories over Grand Slam champions Sloane Stephens and Jelena Ostapenko.
Czech Barbora Krejcikova was better known for her doubles exploits and had consigned herself to never cracking the top 100 in singles, but drawing on her late coach Jana Novotna's inspiration, the 24-year-old reached the fourth round, shaving 29 places off her ranking to leap to No.85 in the rankings.
In a passing of the baton for Danish tennis, following Caroline Wozniacki’s retirement after the Australian Open, 17-year-old Clara Tauson won through qualifying to make her Grand Slam main draw debut where she beat US Open semi-finalist, No.21 seed Jennifer Brady to jump 33 spots to world No.155.
German Daniel Altmaier went on a tear, winning three rounds of qualifying before taking down seeds Jan-Lennard Struff and No.7 Matteo Berrettini to reach his maiden Grand Slam fourth round, where he fell to Pablo Carreno Busta. He slashes 64 places off his ranking to sit at No.122.
Fellow qualifier and son of former finalist Petr Korda, Sebastian Korda, also reached his maiden fourth round on debut before Nadal snapped his six-match streak. The 20-year-old American jumped 81 places to No.132.
It was a disappointing home tournament for the Frenchman, barring one. Wild card Hugo Gaston became the flag-bearer, beating former champion Stan Wawrinka to reach the fourth round, before extending Thiem to five sets. It allowed the 20-year-old to surge 82 spots to No.157.
ROLAND-GARROS
20 May - 9 June 2024
