Casper Ruud, Ozeki

Casper Ruud

The men's game has a new Ozkei too: Casper Ruud became the 37th male Ozeki (=Champion) of the Open Era by reaching the final at both the 2022 French and US Open. Together these results suffice to clear the 'great hurdle' - the literal meaning of 'Ozeki' in Japanese. 

Ruud's promotion occurs as several "new generation" Ozeki have lost rank in the last couple of tournaments: the injured Alexander Zverev; Daniil Medvedev, who was not allow to play at Wimbledon and underperformed (relative to rank) at the French and US Open; Stefanos Tsitsipas, who had a series of disappointing results, and Matteo Berrettini, who missed Wimbledon with Covid and fell in the US Open quarterfinals to Ruud. 

All these will be Sekiwake (=Junior Champion I) or Komusubi (=Junior Champion II) after the  tournament, sharing these ranks with players who did well at the US Open, namely finalist Carlos Alcaraz (first-time Sekiwake), semifinalists Frances Tiafoe and Karen Khachanov (both first-time Komusubi), and quarterfinalists Nick Kyrgios and Jannik Sinner. 

A full update of the Sanyaku rankings lists will be published once  2022 US Open finals have been played.