Sunday, September 12, 2021

The 2021 US Open: Promotions, Demotions, and Other Stats

2021 US Open Champions:
  • Daniil Medvedev (Komusubi, ex-Sekiwake)
  • Emma Raducanu (Maegashira)

New Career Sanyaku Rank:

Sanyaku Rank Changes
Player (career rank if different) To From
Promotions
Daniil Medvedev Sekiwake Komusubi
Felix Auger-Aliassime Sekiwake Maegashira
Karolina Pliskova (ex-Ozeki) Sekiwake Komusubi
Aryna Sabalenka Sekiwake Komusubi
Barbora Krejcikova Sekiwake Komusubi
Emma Raducanu Sekiwake Maegashira
Leylah Fernandez Sekiwake Maegashira
Demotions
Stefanos TsitsipasSekiwake Ozeki
Dominik Thiem (ex-Ozeki)Maegashira Komusubi
Dennis ShapovalovMaegashira Komusubi
Hubert HurcaczMaegashira Komusubi
Sofia Kenin (ex-Ozeki)Maegashira Komusubi
Iga Swiatek (ex-Sekiwake)Maegashira Komusubi
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (ex-Sekiwake)Maegashira Komusubi
Angelique Kerber (ex-Ozeki)Maegashira Komusubi
Karolina MuchovaMaegashira Komusubi

Kinboshi:
("gold star" - prize awarded to a non-sanyaku ranked competitor for beating an active Yokozuna):
  • Leylah Fernandez - for beating Yokozuna Naomi Osaka in Round 3

Other noteworthy developments:
  • Dai-Yokozuna (Great Grand Champion) Novak Djokovic just missed out on his 21st grand slam title, and therefore remains on par with Roger Federer's and Rafael Nadal. Djokovic remains #2 in the stats-based open area top 20 ranking, behind Federer but ahead of Nadal (the rank order is determined by the number of finals and semifinals participations).
  • Both Dai-Yokozuna Serena Williams - who missed the tournament injured - and Yokozuna (Grand Champion) Naomi Osaka - who exited in round 3 - are at risk of losing active Yokozuna status if they fail to reach the quarterfinals at the 2022 Australian Open
  • Sekiwake (Junior Champion I) Daniil Medvedev won his first grand slam tournament. Although Medvedev is now arguably more accomplished than either Alexander Zverev or Stefanos Tsitsipas, different from them he did not clear the "great hurdle" to Ozeki ("Champion") yet, as for this consistency at a high level over several tournament is required - and Medvedev's results at the preceding 2021 Wimbledon tournament and French Open were somewhat weaker. He is in an excellent postition to secure Ozeki rank soon, however, he needs a quarterfinal participation at the 2022 Australian Open or a semifinal at the 2022 French Open.
  • Alexander Zverev defended Ozeki rank with a semifinal participation, while Stefanos Tsitsipas exited early and gets demoted to Sekiwake. He has one chance at the Australian Open to regain Ozeki status immediately, however, if he reaches the semifinals. Ashleigh Barty also lost early and goes kadoban: she needs to reach the quarterfinals at the 2022 Australian Open to defend rank.
  • In a strange quirk, the number of Komusubi (Junior Champion II) went from 11 to 0 after the US Open, while the number of Sekiwake went from 2 to 10: four on the men's side and five on the ladies'. Five out of the ten Sekiwake are first-time Sekiwake promotees. These include Emma Raducanu and Leylah Fernandez, who played the first all-teenager ladies' grand slam final since Serena Williams vs. Martina Hingis in 1999.

Sanyaku Ranks Following the 2021 US Open

Men
Career rank 1/ East Current Rank West Career rank 1/
High Sanyaku (Senior Champion Ranks)
Dai-Y Novak Djokovic Y Rafael NadalDai-Y
O Alexander Zverev O --
Lower Sanyaku (Junior Champion Ranks)
S Matteo Berrettini S1 Stefanos Tsitsipas (o)O
S Daniil Medvedev S2 Felix Auger-Aliassime S
- - K - -


Women
Career rank 1/ East Current Rank West Career rank 1/
High Sanyaku (Senior Champion Ranks)
Y Naomi Osaka Y Serena WilliamsDai-Y
O Ashleigh Barty (k) O --
Lower Sanyaku (Junior Champion Ranks)
O Karolina Pliskova S1 Aryna SabalenkaS
S Maria Sakkari S2 Emma Raducanu S
S Leylah Fernandez S3 Barbora KrejcikovaS
- - K - -

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

Sunday, July 11, 2021

The 2021 Wimbledon Tournament: Promotions, Demotions and Other States

2021 Wimbledon Champions:
  • Novak Djokovic (Dai-Yokozuna)
  • Ashleigh Barty (Komusubi, ex-Ozeki)

New Career Sanyaku Rank:

Sanyaku Rank Changes
Player (career rank if different) To From
Promotions
Ashleigh Barty Ozeki Komusubi
Matteo Berrettini Sekiwake Maegashira
Karolina Pliskova (ex-Ozeki)Sekiwake Maegashira
Denis ShapovalovKomusubi Maegashira
Angelique Kerber (ex-Ozeki)Komusubi Maegashira
Aryna SabalenkaKomusubi Maegashira
Karolina MuchovaKomusubi Maegashira
Demotions
Daniel MedvedevKomusubi Sekiwake
Dominik Thiem (ex-Ozeki)Komusubi Sekiwake
Sofia Kenin (ex-Ozeki)Komusubi Sekiwake
Iga SwiatekKomusubi Sekiwake
Barbora KrejcikovaKomusubi Sekiwake
Anastasia PavlyuchenkovaKomusubi Sekiwake
Diego SchwartzmanMaegashira Komusubi
Simona Halep (ex-Ozeki) Maegashira Komusubi
Jennifer Brady (ex-Sekiwake)Maegashira Komusubi
Maria SakkariMaegashira Komusubi
Tamara Zidansek Maegashira Komusubi

Kinboshi:
("gold star" - prize awarded to a non-sanyaku ranked competitor for beating an active Yokozuna):
  • Aliaksandra Sasnovich - for beating Dai-Yokozuna Serena Williams in Round 1

Other noteworthy developments:
  • Dai-Yokozuna (Great Grand Champion) Novak Djokovic won his 20th grand slam title, equaling Roger Federer's and Rafael Nadal's record. He is now #2 in the stats-based open area top 20 ranking, behind Federer but ahead of Nadal (the rank order is determined by the number of finals participations). For the first time since this website exists (since 2008), the top 3 male open era players are all active.
  • Asleigh Barty returns to Ozeki (Champion) rank after winning her second grand slam tournament
  • Ozeki Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas both exited early and go kadoban: they need to reach the quarterfinals at the 2021 US Open to defend rank.

Sanyaku Ranks Following the 2021 Wimbledon Tournament

Men
Career rank 1/ East Current Rank West Career rank 1/
High Sanyaku (Senior Champion Ranks)
Dai-Y Novak Djokovic Y Rafael NadalDai-Y
O Alexander Zverev (k) O Stefanos Tsitsipas (k)O
Lower Sanyaku (Junior Champion Ranks)
S Matteo Berrettini S --
S Danil Medvedev K1 Dominik Thiem O
K Denis Shapovalov K2 Hubvert Hurkacz K


Women
Career rank 1/ East Current Rank West Career rank 1/
High Sanyaku (Senior Champion Ranks)
Y Naomi Osaka Y Serena WilliamsDai-Y
O Ashleigh Barty O --
Lower Sanyaku (Junior Champion Ranks)
O Karolina Pliskova S --
O Sofia Kenin K1 Iga Swiatek S
S Barbora Krejcikova K2 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova S
O Angelique Kerber K3 Aryna SabalenkaK
K Karolina Muchova K4 --

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

Sunday, June 13, 2021

The 2021 French Open: Promotions, Demotions and Other Stats

2021 French Open Champions:
  • Novak Djokovic (Dai-Yokozuna)
  • Barbora Krejcikova (Maegashira)

New Career Sanyaku Rank:

Sanyaku Rank Changes
Player (career rank if different) To From
Promotions
Stefanos Tsitsipas Ozeki Sekiwake
Iga Swiatek Sekiwake Komusubi
Barbora Krejcikova Sekiwake Maegashira
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova Sekiwake Maegashira
Diego SchwartzmanKomusubi Maegashira
Maria SakkariKomusubi Maegashira
Tamora ZidansekKomusubi Maegashira
Demotions
Dominik ThiemSekiwake Ozeki
Sofia KeninSekiwake Ozeki
Simona Halep (ex-Ozeki)Komusubi Sekiwake
Ashleigh Barty (ex-Ozeki)Komusubi Sekiwake
Jennifer BradyKomusubi Sekiwake
Pablo Carreno Busta (ex-Sekiwake) Maegashira Komusubi
Andrey RublevMaegashira Komusubi
Aslan KaratsevMaegashira Komusubi
Karolina Muchova Maegashira Komusubi

Kinboshi:
("gold star" - prize awarded to a non-sanyaku ranked competitor for beating an active Yokozuna):
  • Elena Rybakina - for beating Dai-Yokozuna Serena Williams in Round 4

Other noteworthy developments:
  • Dai-Yokozuna Novak Djokovic won his 19th grand slam title, eding again one win closer to Roger Federer's and Rafael Nadal's record of 20 titles.
  • Roger Federer failed to reach a grand slam quarterfinal for the fourth consecutive tournament and therefore loses active Yokozuna status. He needs a semifinal at Wimbledon to return once more as an active Yokozuna
  • Ex-Ozeki Domique Thiem and Sofia Kenin got demoted to Sekiwake after failing twice in a row to reach a grand slam quarterfinal. A semifinal at Wimbledon would restore Ozeki status
  • Alexander Zverev held Ozeki rank with a seminfal participation. Danil Medvedev fell again one win short of jumping the "big hurdle" to Ozeki, he needs now to reach the semifinals at Wimbledon to make it to Ozeki.

Sanyaku Ranks Following the 2021 French Open

Men
Career rank 1/ East Current Rank West Career rank 1/
High Sanyaku (Senior Champion Ranks)
Dai-Y Novak Djokovic Y Rafael NadalDai-Y
O Alexander Zverev O Stefanos TsitsipasO
Lower Sanyaku (Junior Champion Ranks)
S Danil Medvedev S Dominik Thiem (o)O
K Diego Schwartzman K --


Women
Career rank 1/ East Current Rank West Career rank 1/
High Sanyaku (Senior Champion Ranks)
Y Naomi Osaka Y Serena WilliamsDai-Y
- - O --
Lower Sanyaku (Junior Champion Ranks)
O Sofia Kenin (o) S1 Iga Swiatek S
S Barbora Krejcikova S2 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova S
O Simona Halep K1 Ashleigh BartyO
S Jennifer Brady K2 Maria SakkariK
K Tamara Zidansek K3 --

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

Wednesday, June 9, 2021

Stefanos Tsitsipas, Ozeki

Stefanos Tsitispas
Stefanos Tsitsipas
 became the 34th male Ozeki (=Champion) of the Open Era last night by reaching the semi-finals of the 2021 French Open. Together with reaching the semifinals at the two preceding grand slam tournaments - the 2021 Australian Open and the 2020 French Open (that were held in the fall after the Covid19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the traditional spring date) - this suffices to clear the ‘big hurdle’ (the meaning of ‘Ozeki’ in Japanese). 

In his quarterfinal, Tsitsipas defeated Danil Medvedev, who had been on an Ozeki run himself. Medvedev now needs to reach the semifinals at Wimbledon to make it to the second-highest Sanyaku (champion level) rank. This was only the second victory of Tsitispas over Medvedev in eight matches on the ATP tour. In the semifinals Tsitsipas will meet co-Ozeki Alexander Zverev, who managed to hold rank.  

Dominik Thiem by contrast, will be demoted from Ozeki to Sekiwake (=Junior Champion I) after failing for the second time in a row to reach a grand slam quarterfinal. In the ladies' game, Ashleigh Barty will also be demoted to Sekiwake.

The Ozeki and all other Sanyaku career lists will be updated once the tournament is completed.

Sunday, February 21, 2021

The 2021 Australian Open: Promotions, Demotions, and Other Stats

2021 Australian Open Champions:
  • Novak Djokovic (Dai-Yokozuna)
  • Naomi Osaka (Yokozuna)

New Career Sanyaku Rank:

Sanyaku Rank Changes
Player (career rank if different) To From
Promotions
Danil Medvedev Sekiwake Komusubi
Stefanos Tsitsipas Sekiwake Komusubi
Jennifer BradySekiwake Maegashira
Aslan KaratsevKomusubi Maegashira
Karolina MuchovaKomusubi Maegashira
Demotions
Pablo Carreno BustaKomusubi Sekiwake
Iga SwiatekKomusubi Sekiwake
Diego Schwartzman Maegashira Komusubi
Viktoria Azarenka (ex-Ozeki)Maegashira Komusubi
Petra Kvitova (ex-Ozeki)Maegashira Komusubi
Natalia Podoroska Maegashira Komusubi

Kinboshi:
("gold star" - prize awarded to a non-sanyaku ranked competitor for beating an active Yokozuna): none

Other noteworthy developments:
  • Dai-Yokozuna Novak Djokovic won his 18th grand slam title, eding closer to Roger Federer's and Rafael Nadal's record. Djokovic remains #4 in the merit-based open era ranking for now. 20 grand slam titles would get Djokovic past Rod Laver. Should Djokovic one day reach the same number of grand slam titles as Federer and Nadal, the deeper record in terms of final and semifinal participations would determine the ranking - which, at the moment, would place Djokovic behind Federer but favor him over Nadal.
  • Yokozuna Naomi Osaka won again the US and the Australian Open back-to-back. Her 4th grand slam title overall also gets Osaka into the open era top 20 ranking at #17 - at the expense of former Ozeki Angelique Kerber, who drops out of the top 20. Dai-Yokozuna and semi-finalist Serena Williams remains #2, after falling again just short of winning her 24st grand slam title that would get her past Margaret Court.
  • Ozeki Domique Thiem and Sofia Kenin lost before the quarterfinals and hence goes kadoban - they must reach the quarterfinals at the next grand slam tournament (presumably the French Open) to defend Ozeki rank. Alexander Zverev, by contrast, secured Ozeki rank for at least another two grand slam tournaments with a quarterfinal particpation.
  • Simona Halep and Ashleigh Barty both fell short by one win of restoring Ozeki-rank as they exited in the quarterfinals. Both remain at Sekiwake, with Ozeki rank-protection extinguished.
  • Danil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Jennifer Brady all fell one match short of jumping the "big hurdle" to Ozeki, even though Tsitsipas and Brady earned a first-time Sekiwake promotion. A semi-final at the next slam would get any of them to Ozeki. Andrey Rublev held Komusubi rank.

Sanyaku Ranks Following the 2021 Australian Open

Men
Career rank 1/ East Current Rank West Career rank 1/
High Sanyaku (Senior Champion Ranks)
Dai-Y Novak Djokovic Y1 Rafael NadalDai-Y
Dai-Y Roger Federer Y2 --
O Alexander Zverev O Dominic Thiem (k)O
Lower Sanyaku (Junior Champion Ranks)
S Danil Medvedev S Stefanos TsitsipasS
S Pablo Carreno Busta K1 Andrey RublevK
K Aslan Karatsev K2 --


Women
Career rank 1/ East Current Rank West Career rank 1/
High Sanyaku (Senior Champion Ranks)
Y Naomi Osaka Y Serena WilliamsDai-Y
O Sofia Kenin (k) O --
Lower Sanyaku (Junior Champion Ranks)
O Simona Halep S1 Ashleigh BartyO
S Jennifer Brady S2 --
S Iga Swiatek K Karolina MuchovaK

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