Promotions and demotions following Wimbledon 2014

Sanyaku Rank Changes

Player (career rank if different)	To	From
Promotions
Eugenie Bouchard	Ozeki*	Sekiwake
Simona Halep	Ozeki*	Sekiwake
Petra Kvitova	Ozeki	Maegashira
Milos Raonic	Sekiwake*	Maegashira
Grigor Dimitrov	Komusubi*	Maegashira
Lucie Safarova	Komusubi*	Maegashira
Demotions
Viktoria Azarenka	Sekiwake	Ozeki
Li Na	Sekiwake	Ozeki
Tomas Berdych (ex-Ozeki)	Komusubi	Sekiwake
Ernests Gulbis	Maegashira	Komusubi
Agnieszka Radwanska (ex-Sekiwake)	Maegashira	Komusubi
Flavia Pennetta (ex-Sekiwake)	Maegashira	Komusubi
Dominika Cibulkova (ex-Sekiwake)	Maegashira	Komusubi
Andrea Petkovic	Maegashira	Komusubi
Carla Suarez Navarro	Maegashira	Komusubi

* New career high

Djokovic edges Federer in an all-Yokozuna final

For the second time this year, Novak Djokovic faced a fellow Yokozuna (=Grand Champion) in a grand slam final, but this time he had the better end for himself. In an intense, classy and entertaining 5-setter Djokovic defeated Dai-Yokozuna (=great Grand Champion) and living legend Roger Federer - who hence just failed, at an age of almost 33 years, to add an 18th grand slam title to his record.

Djokovic seemed to have won the match in the 4th set when he was up 5-2, but Federer fought back with verve and forced a decider. In the 5th set, both players remained on serve until 5-4 Djokovic, when the Serb tilted the match in his favor for good.

Outlandish as it sounds, but by the extremely high standards that Djokovic had set in 2011/12 - when he won four out of five consecutive slams - his career had stalled a little recently. Between the 2012 Australian Open and this year's Wimbledon tournament, Djokovic had been in six more grand finals and lost five of them; three times against Dai-Yokozuna Rafael Nadal (among them the 2014 French open) and twice against long-standing Ozeki (=Champion) Andy Murray. This 7th grand slam title makes Djokovic move up one notch to #11 in this page's open era ranking; he is also edging closer to Dai-Yokozuna status (three more titles would be needed for this).

Among the Ozeki, Murray and Stanislas Wawrinka both held rank with a quarterfinal participation, losing to Dimitrov and Federer, respectively. By contrast, David Ferrer lost early and goes kadoban - i.e. he has to reach the quarterfinals at the US Open to avoid demotion to Sekiwake.

Encouragingly, Wimbledon 2014 brought more signs of younger players breaking through and challenging the established lot. At Roland Garros, flashy Ernests Gulbis had reached the sanyaku (=championship) ranks for the first time. At Wimbledon, big server Milos Raonic and no less flashy alrounder Grigor Dimitrov followed in Gulbis' path, reaching the first grand slam semifinals of their careers. Raonic gets promoted to Sekiwake (=Junior Champion I, in conjunction with his quarterfinal at the French Open) as a result, and Dimitrov to Komusubi (Junior Champion II). Dimitrov will share the rank with veteran and ex-Ozeki Tomas Berdych, who failed to hold Sekiwake rank.

Going into the 2014 US Open, the mens' sanyaku ranks are as follows:

Men

Career rank 1/	East	Current Rank	West	Career rank 1/
High Sanyaku (Senior Champion Ranks)
Y	Novak Djokovic	Y1	Roger Federer	Dai-Y
Dai-Y	Rafael Nadal	Y2	-	-
O	Andy Murray	O1	Stanislas Wawrinka	O
O	David Ferrer*	O2	-	-
Lower Sanyaku (Junior Champion Ranks)
S	Milos Raonic	S	-	-
O	Tomas Berdych	K	Grigor Dimitrov	K

1/ Highest sanyaku rank achieved in a player's career
*kadoban

A superb Kvitova wins her second Wimbledon title, while two new female Ozeki emerge

The ladies' competition at Wimbledon 2014 seemed to have a logical endpoint. 20-year old "tennis princess" Eugenie Bouchard, semi-finalist at both the 2014 Australian and French Open, had come through the tougher half of the field - that included inter alia the Yokozuna (=Grand Champion) Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova - without dropping a set. She had outclassed the 2013-finalist and ex-Sekiwake Sabine Lisicki in the quarterfinals. Then, in the semifinals, she had beaten Roland Garros finalist Simona Halep, with a dominating performance in the second set.

Surely Petra Kvitova (picture) - who had not been in a grand slam semifinal for more than two years and had come through significantly weaker competition en route to the final - would prove no obstacle?

But Kvitova - a former Ozeki (=Champion) and 2011 Wimbledon winner - refused to succumb to this logic. She started strong, continued stronger, and, from the middle of the first set, played irresistible grass court tennis, based on a strong serve, and complemented by powerful, accurate groundstrokes, as well as much nimble movement and touch at and around the net. Bouchard, who had looked so sturdy in her first 6 matches at 2014 Wimbledon, had no serious chance in the 7th, losing 3-6, 0-6.

Based on this performance, the question is why Kvitova has stayed away for so long from the very top of the game - she clearly belongs.

At the same time, signs of a generational shift in ladies' tennis intensify. 24-year old Kvitova comes roaring back to Ozeki rank, where she will be joined by first-time promotees Bouchard (pictured on the right) and Halep - both players in their early 20s. Bouchard and Halep are the 33rd and 34th female Ozeki of the open era, respectively. By contrast, the veteran Ozeki Li Na and Viktoria Azarenka, who were kadoban before the tournament (= they missed the quarterfinal at the preceding French Open), failed to make the last 8 and get demoted to Sekiwake (=Junior Champion I). Further, the Yokozuna Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova also left Wimbledon empty-handed. Dai-Yokozuna (=great Grand Champion) Serena has now missed the quarterfinals for three consecutive slams, and needs to reach the semifinals at the US Open lest to lose active Yokozuna status.

Finally, Kvitova's Czech compatriot Lucie Safarova earned a career-first promotion to Komusubi (=Junior Champion II) by reaching the semifinals. The ladies' sanyaku ranks going into the 2014 US Open are therefore as follows:

Women

Career rank 1/	East	Current Rank	West	Career rank 1/
High Sanyaku (Senior Champion Ranks)
Dai-Y	Serena Williams	Y	Maria Sharapova	Y
O	Eugenie Bouchard	O1	Simona Halep	O
O	Petra Kvitova	O2	-	-
Lower Sanyaku (Junior Champion Ranks)
O	Na Li	S	Viktoria Azarenka	O
K	Lucie Safarova	K	-	-

1/ Highest sanyaku rank achieved in a player's career
* kadoban
Venus Williams is an inactive Yokozuna