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

2020 US Open Champions:

• Dominic Thiem (Sekiwake)

• Naomi Osaka (Yokozuna)

New Career Sanyaku Rank:

• Dominic Thiem, the 32nd Male Ozeki of the Open Era

• Alexander Zverev, the 33rd Male Ozeki of the Open Era

• Jennifer Brady, the 69th Female Komusubi of the Open Era

Sanyaku Rank Changes

Player (career rank if different)	To	From
Promotions
Dominic Thiem	Ozeki	Sekiwake
Alexander Zverev	Ozeki	Komusubi
Danil Medvedev	Sekiwake	Komusubi
Viktoria Azarenka (ex-Ozeki)	Sekiwake	Maegashira
Pablo Carreno Busta	Komusubi	Maegashira
Jennifer Brady	Komusubi	Maegashira
Elise Mertens	Komusubi	Maegashira
Demotions
Sofia Kenin	Komusubi	Sekiwake
Garbine Muguruza (ex-Ozeki)	Komusubi	Sekiwake
Stan Wawrinka (ex-Ozeki)	Maegashira	Komusubi
Madison Keys (ex-Ozeki)	Maegashira	Komusubi
Sloane Stephens (ex-Ozeki)	Maegashira	Komusubi
Johanna Konta (ex-Sekiwake)	Maegashira	Komusubi
Elina Svitolina (ex-Sekiwake)	Maegashira	Komusubi
Bianca Andreescu (ex-Sekiwake)	Maegashira	Komusubi

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

• Pablo Carreno Busta (ex-Komusubi) - for beating Dai-Yokozuna Novak Djokovic in Round 4

• Viktoria Azarenka (ex-Ozeki) - for beating Dai-Yokozuna Serena Williams in the semifinals

Other noteworthy developments:

• Dai-Yokozuna Serena Williams loses in the semifinals and hence falls again short of her 24th grand slam title. As a result, she remains #2 in our merit-based Open Era ranking.

• Naomi Ozaka reactivates her Yokozuna status.

• Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev achieve the first Ozeki promotions in the mens' game since 2014, when Stan Wawrinka and Marin Cilic were promoted.

• Ozeki Simona Halep and Ashleigh Barty both sit out the tournament and go kadoban. They have to reach the quarterfinals at the 2020 French open to defend Ozeki rank, although Barty has alrady announced that she won't play.

Sanyaku Ranks Following the 2020 US 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	Dominic Thiem	O	Alexander Zverev	O
Lower Sanyaku (Junior Champion Ranks)
S	Danil Medvedev	S	-	-
K	Pablo Carreno Busta	K	-	-

Women

Career rank 1/	East	Current Rank	West	Career rank 1/
High Sanyaku (Senior Champion Ranks)
Dai-Y	Serena Williams	Y	Naomi Osaka	Y
O	Simona Halep (k)	O	Ashleigh Barty (k)	O
Lower Sanyaku (Junior Champion Ranks)
O	Viktoria Azarenka	S	-	-
S	Sofia Kenin	K1	Garbine Muguruza	O
K	Jennifer Brady	K2	Elise Mertens	K

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

Alexander Zverev, Ozeki

Alexander Zverev

Alexander Zverev became the 33rd male Ozeki (=Champion) of the Open Era  last night by reaching the final of the 2020 US Open. Together with reaching the semifinals at the 2020 Australian Open - which, this year, is the grand slam tournament preceding the US Open - this suffices to clear the ‘big hurdle’ (the meaning of ‘Ozeki’ in Japanese). In his semifinal, Zverev had to overcome the durable Pablo Carreno Busta - the 84th male Komusubi (=Junior Champion II) of the Open Era -  in a five-setter. Carreno Busta will be re-promoted to his former rank that he first attained at the 2017 US Open.   

After six years without an Ozeki promotion, Zverev's is the second within two days, after Dominic Thiem was promoted to Ozeki upon reaching the semifinals. Thiem will now be Zverev's opponent in the the final, hence one of the two new Ozeki promotees will also become a first-time grand slam champion. Thiem making the final also means that the third player on an Ozeki run - Danil Medvedev -  fell one win short and will instead just be re-promoted to Sekiwake (=Junior Champion I). The Ozeki and all other Sanyaku career lists will be updated once the tournament is completed.

In the ladies' game, ex-Ozeki Viktoria Azarenka will play Naomi Osaka in tonight's final. Azarenka will return to Ozeki if she wins her third grand slam title (otherwise Sekiwake), while Osaka already re-activiated her Yokozuna (=Grand Champion) status when she made the semifinals. Azarenka's advance also means that Dai-Yokozuna (=great Grand Champion) Serena Williams' quest for a 24th grand slam title - which would have her take #1 spot in our open era ranking - fell a tad short once again.  

Dominic Thiem, Ozeki

Dominic Thiem

Dominic Thiem became the 32nd male Ozeki (=Champion) of the Open Era today by reaching the semifinals of the 2020 US Open. Together with reaching the final at the 2020 Australian Open - which, in this exceptional year, is the grand slam tournament preceding the US Open - this suffices to clear the ‘big hurdle’ (the meaning of ‘Ozeki’ in Japanese).  The promotion makes Thiem the highest ranking Austrian tennis player of the Open Era, surpassing Thomas Muster (the 41st male Sekiwake (=Junior Champion I) of the Open Era)

Thiem's is the first Ozeki promotion in the men's game since 2014, when Stan Wawrinka (at the Australian Open) and Marin Cilic (US Open) got promoted. The Ozeki and all other Sanyaku career lists will be updated once the tournament is completed.

And there is potential for more: also in the running for an Ozeki promotion are Alexander Zverev and Danil Medvedev. Either of them would have to reach the US Open final, however. 

In the ladies' game, Naomi Osaka reactivated her Yokozuna (=Grand Champion) status by reaching the 2020 US Open semifinals.