Ranking Reaction: Former No. 5 Kevin Anderson soars back into Top 100

Though his week in Vienna may not have had a fairytale ending, Kevin Anderson’s run to the semifinals of the 500-level event this past week propelled him from No. 111 to No. 86 on Monday’s new ATP rankings, the former No. 5’s first time inside the Top 100 since the first week of the year.

Anderson has struggled with right elbow and knee injuries over the last few years—undergoing two surgeries on the knee—and after his points from winning a title in Pune, India on January 5, 2019 fell off on January 6, 2020, he fell from No. 91 to No. 147, his first time outside the Top 100 since 2010.

But he brought out some of his best tennis to reach the final four in Vienna, taking out—among others—No. 6-ranked Daniil Medvedev in the quarterfinals, 6-4, 7-6 (5), his first Top 10 win since beating both Dominic Thiem and Kei Nishikori in the round-robin stage of the ATP Finals in November 2018.

“Right from the beginning I felt very good about my game, and obviously I knew it was going to be tough. I couldn’t be happier to be through to the semifinals,” he said after beating the Russian.

“I want to take a moment to appreciate the work that has gone in for me to play a match like this.”

Anderson ended up retiring against Andrey Rublev in the semifinals due to an upper right leg injury.

The man Rublev beat for the title, Lorenzo Sonego, also made a big move up the ATP rankings this week, rising from No. 42—his previous career-high—to a new career-high of No. 32 after reaching the biggest final of his career at the 500-level event. The 25-year-old is the third-highest-ranked Italian on the ATP Tour after Matteo Berrettini and Fabio Fognini, who are at No. 10 and No. 16, respectively.

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Meanwhile, Australia’s John Millman rose from No. 45 to No. 37 after winning the first ATP title of his career at the 250-level event in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan—just four spots off his career-high of No. 33.

Millman told ATPTour.com afterwards that winning an ATP title had been one of his longtime goals.

“I have obviously won lots of Challengers and I have done well in tour events and at Grand Slams, but it’s a whole other thing to make that breakthrough and to win an ATP Tour title,” the 31-year-old Brisbane native said. “That was definitely one of the goals, so it’s very satisfying to get to that goal.”

He’s now the No. 2-ranked Australian on the ATP Tour after Alex de Minaur, who’s ranked No. 25.

There were no tour-level events on the women’s side this past week, but two up-and-comers made their Top 100 debuts after playing each other in the final of an $80,000 ITF event in Tyler, Texas. Ukrainian teenager Marta Kostyuk, who finished runner-up, rose from No. 104 to No. 97 on the new WTA rankings, while 20-year-old American Ann Li, who won the title, rose from No. 112 to No. 100.

Li got within striking distance of the Top 100 after reaching the third round of the US Open this past summer, rising from No. 128 to No. 109. It was the best Grand Slam result of her career so far.