Fare Well, Grand Champion

A career Yokozuna (=Grand Champion) has announced her retirement: Maria Sharapova. Sharapova became the 17th female Yokozuna of the open era after winning her fifth grand slam at the 2014 French Open - almost ten years after her maiden Ozeki (=Champion) promotion following a sensational Wimbledon victory as a 17 year old. Sanyaku Tennis has Sharapova down as the 13th greatest female tennis player of the open era.

Maria Sharapova

Sharapova was not without critics. In 2016 she was suspended for 18 months after failing to stop taking a drug that had been banned recently. And she was unfortunate to play in the same era as Serena Williams, against who she held dismal career record, including eight losses at grand slam tournaments (three finals). At the same time, Sharapova brought a star power to ladies' tennis that transcended her on-court success, and that greatly benefitted the game she played.

Fare well, Grand Champion. You will be missed.

The 2020 Australian Open: Promotions, Demotions, and Other Stats

2020 Australian Open Champions:

• Novak Djokovic (Dai-Yokozuna)

• Sofia Kenin (Maegashira)

New Career Sanyaku Rank:

• Sofia Kenin, the 50st Female Sekiwake of the Open Era

• Alexander Zverev, the 92nd Male Komusubi of the Open Era

Sanyaku Rank Changes

Player (career rank if different)	To	From
Promotions
Ashleigh Barty	Ozeki	Sekiwake
Dominic Thiem	Sekiwake	Maegashira
Sofia Kenin	Sekiwake	Maegashira
Garbine Muguruza (ex-Ozeki)	Sekiwake	Maegashira
Alexander Zverev	Komusubi	Maegashira
Stan Wawrinka (ex-Ozeki)	Komusubi	Maegashira
Demotions
Daniil Medvedev	Komusubi	Sekiwake
Madison Keys (ex-Ozeki)	Komusubi	Sekiwake
Sloane Stephens (ex-Ozeki)	Komusubi	Sekiwake
Johanna Konta	Komusubi	Sekiwake
Elina Svitolina	Komusubi	Sekiwake
Bianca Andreescu	Komusubi	Sekiwake
Kei Nishikori (ex-Sekiwake)	Maegashira	Komusubi
Matteo Berettini	Maegashira	Komusubi
Belinda Bencic	Maegashira	Komusubi

Kinboshi:
("gold star" - prize awarded to a non-sanyaku ranked competitor for beating an active Yokozuna):

• Dominic Thiem (ex-Sekiwake) - for beating Dai-Yokozuna Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals

• Qiang Wang - for beating Dai-Yokozuna Serena Williams in round 3

• Cori Gauff - for beating Yokozuna Naomi Ozaka in round 3

Other noteworthy developments:

• Naomi Ozaka failed to reach the quarterfinals for the fourth consecutive grand slam tournament. While Yokozuna cannot be demoted, Ozaka loses active Yokozuna status, and needs a semifinal or two quarterfinals within a year to restore it.

• Ashleigh Barty returns to Ozeki for reaching the semifinals directly after having been demoted from Ozeki to Sekiwake afte rthe US Open. Simona Halep, who was at risk of demotion (kadoban), maintains Ozeki rank for also reaching the semifinals.

Sanyaku Ranks Following the 2020 Australian Open

Men

Career rank 1/	East	Current Rank	West	Career rank 1/
High Sanyaku (Senior Champion Ranks)
Dai-Y	Novak Djokovic	Y1	Roger Federer	Dai-Y
Dai-Y	Rafael Nadal	Y2	-	-
-	-	O	-	-
Lower Sanyaku (Junior Champion Ranks)
S	Dominic Thiem	S	-	-
S	Danil Medvedev	K1	Alexander Zverev	K
O	Stan Wawrinka	K2	-	-

Women

Career rank 1/	East	Current Rank	West	Career rank 1/
High Sanyaku (Senior Champion Ranks)
Dai-Y	Serena Williams	Y	-	-
O	Simona Halep	O	Ashleigh Barty	O
Lower Sanyaku (Junior Champion Ranks)
S	Sofia Kenin	S	Garbine Muguruza	O
O	Madison Keys	K1	Sloane Stephens	O
S	Johanna Konta	K2	Elina Svitolina	S
S	Bianca Andreescu	K3	-	-

1/ Highest sanyaku rank achieved in a player's career
Inactive Yokozuna: Andy Murray, Venus Williams, Maria Sharapova, Naomi Osaka
(k): kadoban
(o): Sekiwake-Ozeki