American Coco Gauff rises to career-high No. 2 in world tennis rankings

June 10 (UPI) — American Coco Gauff continued her tennis ascent Monday, rising to a career-high No. 2 in the WTA Tour singles rankings. She trails only Iga Swiatek, who beat her in the French Open semifinals en route to the title.

“I don’t feel like my game is all the way developed yet,” Gauff told reporters last week in Paris. “I definitely don’t think I’m there yet.”

Gauff, 20, replaced Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, who dropped to No. 3. Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina (No. 4), American Jessica Pegula (No. 5) and No. 6 Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic held on to their rankings.

Italian Jasmine Paolini, who lost to Swiatek in the finale Saturday at Roland Garros, ranked No. 15 before the tournament. Her run resulted in a climb to No. 7. China’s Qinwen Zheng, Greece’s Maria Sakkari and Tunisian Ons Jabeur round out the Top 10. Sakkari dropped from No. 7 to No. 9. Jabeur moved from No. 9 to No. 10.
American Danielle Collins, ranked No. 11, fell outside the Top 10.

Gauff owns a 205-91 singles record, including a 30-9 mark this year. She claimed more than $2.5 million in prize money since the start of 2024.

She also teamed up with Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic to beat Paolini and fellow Italian Sara Errani on Sunday for the French Open doubles title. She is the No. 12 doubles player in the world. Belgium’s Elise Mertens tops those rankings.

With her first career Grand Slam doubles crown, Gauff became the youngest woman to win Grand Slam singles and doubles titles since Svetlana Kuznetsova (19) in 2005.

On the men’s side, Jannik Sinner became the first Italian man to claim the top spot in the ATP Tour singles rankings. Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, who beat Sinner in a French Open men’s singles semifinal and won the tournament Sunday in Paris, climbed from No. 3 to No. 2.

Serbian Novak Djokovic, who withdrew from the French Open because of a knee injury, dropped from No. 1 to No. 3. German Alexander Zverev, who lost to Alcaraz in a tight men’s final at Roland Garros, remained the No. 4 player in the world. Russian Daniil Medvedev stayed at No. 5.

Casper Ruud of Norway, Hubert Hurkacz of Poland, Alex de Minaur of Australia and Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria round out the the Top 10 men’s players.

Taylor Fritz remained the highest-ranked (No. 12) American in the singles rankings. Fellow Americans Tommy Paul (No. 13), Ben Shelton (No. 14), Sebastian Korda (No. 26) and Christopher Eubanks (No. 45) each climbed in the rankings.

Tennis stars now will prepare for the grass court season ahead of Wimbledon 2024, the third Grand Slam of the year, which will be held from July 1 to 14 in London.

Swiatek, Sabalenka, Gauff, Rybakina, Pegula and each of the other Top 10 women’s players are on the entry list for the Berlin Ladies Open, which will be held from Saturday to June 23 in Germany.

Alcaraz leads the entry list for the cinch Championships, which will be held June 17 to 23 in London. Several other top men’s players are in action this week other other grass-court tournaments in Germany and the Netherlands.