Ranking Reaction: Djokovic and Sabalenka ascend to No. 1, Coco rises to No. 3

It was a wild two weeks in New York this year, with a number of breakthrough runs stealing the headlines throughout the fortnight. But at the end of it all it wasn’t much of a surprise that Novak Djokovic captured an incredible 24th career Grand Slam title, and now he’s back at world No. 1, too.

Djokovic secured a rise back to the top spot just by winning his first-round match in Flushing Meadows, but by going all the way to the title he now has a massive 3,260-point cushion over now-world No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz (11,795 to 8,535).

The Serb kicks off his record-extending 390th career week at at No. 1 on the ATP rankings today, now 80 weeks ahead of the next man on the list, Roger Federer, who amassed 310 weeks.

That isn’t the only No. 1 ranking that changes hands, as Aryna Sabalenka has ended Iga Swiatek’s 75-week run at No. 1 on the WTA rankings after reaching the US Open final, her second major final of the year after winning the Australian Open.

Having reached the semifinals of Roland Garros and Wimbledon as well, Sabalenka has become the first woman to reach the semifinals or better at all four majors in a season since 2016, when Serena Williams achieved the feat.

She now has a 1,071-point cushion over No. 2 Swiatek.

Nobody lit up the New York crowds like Coco Gauff this year, and with her run to her first Grand Slam title also comes a bump on the rankings—she rises from No. 6 to No. 3, surpassing her previous career-high of No. 4 from last year.

Gauff is the first American teenager to break into the Top 3 of the WTA rankings since Venus Williams did it as a younger 19-year-old in August 1999 (Serena Williams didn’t break into the Top 3 until May 2002, when she was 20).

And the good news for Gauff doesn’t end there—she and her doubles partner, Jessica Pegula, become co-No. 1s on the WTA doubles rankings today, too. Gauff already reached No. 1 in doubles last year, but for Pegula it’s her first time on top.

There are a few more notable movers in the Top 10: Marketa Vondrousova rises from No. 9 to a new high of No. 6 after following up her Wimbledon title with a run to the US Open quarterfinals; Karolina Muchova moves from No. 10 to a new high of No. 8 after reaching the semifinals; and over on the ATP rankings, Alexander Zverev returns to the Top 10, rising from No. 12 to No. 10 after reaching the quarters in New York.

The biggest jump in the Top 50 goes to one of the US Open’s biggest breakout stars, 20-year-old American Ben Shelton, who rises from No. 47 to No. 19—his simultaneous Top 30 and Top 20 debuts, soaring past his previous high of No. 35—after reaching the first Grand Slam semifinal of his career.

Another five players break into the Top 50 for the first time, including American Peyton Stearns, who jumps from No. 59 to No. 44 after reaching the fourth round of a major for the first time at the US Open. Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi (No. 61 to No. 47), China’s Wang Xinyu (No. 53 to No. 39), Britain’s Katie Boulter (No. 61 to No. 50) and Germany’s Daniel Altmaier (No. 53 to No. 49) also break into that ranking class after reaching the fourth, fourth, third and second round, respectively.

And last but certainly not least, newly-returned mom on tour Caroline Wozniacki rises 380 spots from No. 623 to No. 243 after reaching the fourth round in her first major back, where she fell to the eventual champion, Gauff. She gave the American teenager one of her toughest tests en route to the title—she was actually up a break of serve at 1-0 in the third set before Gauff stormed back to win, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.