Jelena Ostapenko, Ozeki

Ostapenko

Jelena Ostapenko became the 37th female Ozeki (=Champion) of the open era today by reaching the quarterfinals of the 2017 Wimbledon tournament, which follows on her maiden grand slam victory at the 2017 French Open. At only just 20 years of age, this is a rapid advance to the senior sanysku (= championship) ranks (the Ozeki list will be updated once the tournament has been completed). Ostapenko - who prefers to go by "Alona" rather than "Jelena" as first name - could even make it to Yokozuna (=Great Grand Champion) at Wimbledon if she wins the tournament. Moving from nowhere to Yokozuna within two slams would be a first in open era history.

Elsewhere, Ostapenko's predecessor as rookie Ozeki, Karolina Pliskova, exited early and goes kadoban (=she has to reach the quarterfinals at the US Open to defend Ozeki rank). Angelique Kerber exited in round 4 and therefore foregoes the chance to return to Ozeki for now. By contrast, Simona Halep still has a chance to regain her former rank, for this she would have to beat Johanna Konta in the quarterfinals. Konta, Coco Vandeweghe, and ex-Sekiwake (=Junior Champion 1) Garbine Muguruza all will retutn to at least Komusubi (=Junior Champion 2) after Wimbledon. Veteran Yokozuna Venus Williams made another grand slam quarterfinal, contributing to a nice and intriguing mix of experience and youth among the final eight ladies at Wimbledon.

In the men's tournament, the Yokozuna - also known as the "Big 4" - continue to dominate, with one exception: Dai-Yokozuna (=Great Grand Champion) Rafael Nadal exited in a spectacular five-setter against unheralded veteran Gilles Muller. Muller's quarterfinal opponent will be ex-Ozeki Marin Cilic, who has already secured a return to the sanyaku ranks to at least Komusubi.

2017 French Open: Summary, Promotions and Demotions

Nadal

Long-standing Ozeki (=Champion) Stan Wawrinka could have become a Yokozuna (=Grand Champion) today, but one man stood in his way: Dai-Yokozuna (=Great Grand Champion) Rafael Nadal, who blastet Wawrinka off the court in three sets - just as he had blasted off the court everyone else on the way to the final - and won his 10th title at Roland Garros. With this, Wawrinka's Yokozuna run - that started with his triumph at the 2016 US Open - ends for now, there is no result at Wimbledon that would get him to Yokozuna.

Wawrinka

The mens' tournament was short of major surprises. Yokozuna Andy Murray fought himself all the way into the semifinals, despite disappointing results in the clay court season to this point, where he lost a thrilling 5-setter to Wawrinka. Dai-Yokzouna Novak Djokovic went out a bit earlier than expected, losing in the quarterfinals to Dominic Thiem, who therefore repeated his success of last year and gets re-promoted to Komusubi (=Junior Champion 2). In the semis, Thiem was without a chance against Nadal, as was everyone else.

Thiem will share Komusubi rank with the ex-Sekiwake (=Junior Champion 1) Kei Nishikori, who made the quarterfinals, and Milos Raonic, who gets demoted from the Sekiwake rank he held after the Australian Open. There is no Sekiwake on the Wimbledon 2017 Banzuke, attesting to the dominance of the top 5 - the 4 Yokozuna (Dai-Yokozuna Roger Federer set out the tournament) and Wawrinka.

Ostapenko

Quite by contrast, in the ladies' tournament a new star was born: Jelena Ostapenko, who started the French Open as a 19-year old Maegashira and ended it as a 20-year old Grand Slam Champion and Sekiwake. Ostapenko arguably benefitted from the fact that Dai-Yokozuna Serena Williams sat the tournament out (being pregnant) and (inactive) Yokozuna Maria Sharapova could not participate (not having earned enough ranking points after her doping suspension had been removed); also ex-Ozeki Viktoria Azarenka is still out. This said, Ostapenko's fearless, hard-hitting style looks impressive, and we may see more of her in the future. A quarterfinal participation in Wimbledon would get her to Ozeki.

Halep

Ostapenko's hard-fought win in the final means that ex-Ozeki Simona Halep failed for the second time to win her first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros (the first time was in 2014 against Sharapova). Still, Halep gets repromoted to Sekiwake. The third Sekiwake is now Angelique Kerber, who lost Ozeki status after losing in the first round. A semifinal at Wimbledon for either lady - Halep or Kerber - and they are back at Ozeki.

In terms of promotions, the big event though was Karolina Pliskova's ascent to Ozeki, after three strong grand slam tournaments in a row. Two former Sekiwake had some success and return to Komusubi: Timea Bacsinszky (semifinals) and Caroline Wozniacki (quarterfinals), both falling to Ostapenko. Yokozuna Venus Williams went out in round 4, clay court is arguably not her strong suit.

2017 French Open Winners:

• Rafael Nadal (Dai-Yokozuna)

• Jelena Ostapenko (Maegashira)

New Career Sanyaku Rank:

• Karolina Pliskova, the 36th Female Ozeki of the Open Era

• Jelena Ostapenko, the 46th Female Sekiwake of the Open Era

Sanyaku Rank Changes

Player (career rank if different)	To	From
Promotions
Karolina Pliskova	Ozeki	Sekiwake
Simona Halep (ex-Ozeki)	Seikwake	Komusubi
Jelena Ostapenko	Sekiwake	Maegashira
Kei Nishikori (ex-Sekiwake)	Komusubi	Maegashira
Dominic Thiem	Komusubi	Maegashira
Timea Bacsinszky (ex-Sekiwake)	Komusubi	Maegashira
Caroline Wozniacki (ex-Sekiwake)	Komusubi	Maegashira
Demotions
Angelique Kerber	Sekiwake	Ozeki
Milos Raonic	Komusubi	Sekiwake
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (ex-Sekiwake)	Maegashira	Komusubi
Grigor Dimitrov	Maegashira	Komusubi
Mirjana Lucic	Maegashira	Komusubi
Coco Vandeweghe	Maegashira	Komusubi
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova	Maegashira	Komusubi

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

• Dominic Thiem - for beating Dai-Yokozuna Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals.

• Timea Bacsinszky - for beating Yokozuna Venus Williams in round 4.

Other noteworthy developments:

• Finalist Stan Wawrinka (Ozeki) misses out on a Yokozuna promotion by just one match.

Sanyaku Ranks Following the 2017 French Open

Men

Career rank 1/	East	Current Rank	West	Career rank 1/
High Sanyaku (Senior Champion Ranks)
Dai-Y	Rafael Nadal	Y1	Andy Murray	Y
Dai-Y	Novak Djokovic	Y2	Roger Federer	Dai-Y
O	Stan Wawrinka	O	-	-
Lower Sanyaku (Junior Champion Ranks)
-	-	S	-	-
S	Milos Raonic	K1	Dominic Thiem	K
S	Kei Nishikori	K2	-	-

Women

Career rank 1/	East	Current Rank	West	Career rank 1/
High Sanyaku (Senior Champion Ranks)
Dai-Y	Serena Williams	Y	Venus Williams	Y
O	Karolina Pliskova	O	-	-
Lower Sanyaku (Junior Champion Ranks)
O	Angelique Kerber	S1	Simona Halep	O
S	Jelena Ostapenko	S2	-	-
S	Timea Bacsinszky	K	Caroline Wozniacki	S

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

Inactive Yokozuna: Maria Sharapova
(k): kadoban Ozeki

Karolina Pliskova, Ozeki

Karolina Pliskova became the 36th female Ozeki (=Champion) of the open era today by reaching the semifinals at the 2017 French Open. Together with Pliskova's final participation at the 2016 US Open and the quarterfinal earlier this year at the 2017 Australian Open, this suffices to jump the "great hurdle" (this is what "Ozeki" means literally in Japanese) to Ozeki (the Ozeki list will be updated once the French Open have been completed).

Elsewhere, the hard-hitting Latvian 19-year old Jelena Ostapenko earned a first-time promotion to Komusubi (=Junior Champion II) by reaching the semifinals; she can climb even a rank higher to Sekiwake (=Junior Champion I) if she beats ex-Sekiwake Timea Bacsinszky in her next match. Angelique Kerber will lose Ozeki status following this tournament after going out early in two slams in a row, but will have a chance to gain the rankt back with a semifinal at Wimbledon.

And in the mens' tournament, Ozeki Stan Wawrinka is still on a Yokozuna (=Great Grand Champion) run. To complete it, Wawrinka would need to win the French Open.

Australian Open 2017: Summary, Promotions, and Demotions

Federer

It was a nostalgic Australian Open, with Dai-Yokozuna (=Great Grand Champions) Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal playing the men's final, and the sisters Serena and Venus Williams - Dai-Yokozuna and Yokozuna (=Grand Champion), respectively - contesting the women's. Matchups that would have seemed more plausible 10 years ago than today. Federer, moreover, beat his nemesis Nadal in a grand slam final for the first time since Wimbledon 2007 in (yet another) epic five-setter (while Serena's straight sets win over her older sister Venus was somewhat less surprising).


Serena Williams

In dominating the field, these living legends - all of them in their early to mid 30s, and therefore well beyond the best tennis age - prevented several things from happening. Especially in the men's game: Federer stopped the Yokozuna run of his countryman, long-standing Ozeki (=Champion) and US Open Champion Stan Wawrinka. Instead of winning grand slam finals back-to-back, Wawrinka fell short in five hard-fought sets in the semifinals. Wawrinka still has a chance though: he now needs to win the 2017 French Open to ascend to the highest rank. And Nadal defeated Sekiwake (=Junior Champion I) Milos Raonic in the quarterfinals, who would have earned a promotion to Ozeki had he made the final. Nadal therefore reactivates active (Dai-)Yokozuna status.

Dimitrov

With Federer, Nadal, Dai-Yokozuna Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray - both of which exited early - there are now four active Yokozuna in the men's game, for the first time since the US Open 1996, when Becker, Courier, Sampras and Agassi were all active Yokozuna. Enjoy it while it lasts.


Lucic

Back to Komusubi (=Junior Champion II) is Grigor Dimitrov, who gave Nadal a stiff fight in the semifinals. Dimitrov will share the rank with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who stayed put at Komusubi with a quarterfinal participation. As a side note, with Federer, Wawrinka and Dimitrov, three players who strike the backhand single-handed entered the semifinals - beautiful. 


Vandeweghe

In the ladies' game, Mirjana Lucic achieved a most unlikely return to the sanyaku (=championship) ranks, reaching the semifinals and climbing back to Komusubi after more than 17 years (!). In the semis, the (slightly older) Serena Williams was a number too big, but on her way, Lucic beat quality opposition, in particular Sekiwake Karolina Pliskova in the quarterfinals. At 4-4 in the third set, Pliskova was a mere two games away from an Ozeki promotion.

Hard-hitting Coco Vandeweghe  had a breakthrough tournament, reaching the semifinals and earning a first-time sanyaku (championship) promotion. She is the 63rd female Komusubi of the Open Era. Vandeweghe beat Ozeki Angelique Kerber in round 4, and former Sekiwake Garbine Muguruza in the quarterfinals. Kerber is now kadoban: she needs to reach at least the quarterfinals of the French Open to defend her rank. Besides Vandeweghe, there are three more Komusubi: Lucic, ex-Ozeki Simona Halep, who exited in round 1 and gets demoted from Sekiwake, and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who reached her second quarterfinal within three grand slam tournaments, and returns to Komusubi after more than 5 years.

 

Australian Open Winners:

• Roger Federer (Dai-Yokozuna)

• Serena Williams (Dai-Yokozuna)

New Career Sanyaku Rank:

• Coco Vandeweghe, the 63rd Female Komusubi of the Open Era

Sanyaku Rank Changes

Player (career rank if different)	To	From
Promotions
Milos Raonic	Sekiwake	Komusubi
Grigor Dimitrov	Komusubi	Maegashira
Mirjana Lucic	Komusubi	Maegashira
Coco Vandeweghe	Komusubi	Maegashira
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova	Komusubi	Maegashira
Demotions
Simona Halep (ex-Ozeki)	Komusubi	Sekiwake
Tomas Berdych (ex-Ozeki)	Maegashira	Komusubi
Kei Nishikori (ex-Sekiwake)	Maegashira	Komusubi
Lucas Pouille	Maegashira	Komusubi
Caroline Wozniacki (ex-Sekiwake)	Maegashira	Komusubi

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

• Denis Istomin - for beating Dai-Yokozuna Novak Djokovic in round 2.

• Mischa Zverev - for beating Yokozuna Andy Murray in round 4.

Other noteworthy developments:

• Rafael Nadal (Dai-Yokozuna) reactivates Yokozuna status with a final participation.

• Angelique Kerber (Ozeki) goes kadoban after losing in round 4.

• Karolina Pliskova holds Sekiwake rank with a quarterfinal participation

• Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (ex-Sekiwake) holds Komusubi rank with a quarterfinal participation

Sanyaku Ranks Following the 2017 Australian Open

Men

Career rank 1/	East	Current Rank	West	Career rank 1/
High Sanyaku (Senior Champion Ranks)
Dai-Y	Roger Federer	Y1	Rafael Nadal	Dai-Y
Dai-Y	Novak Djokovic	Y2	Andy Murray	Y
O	Stan Wawrinka	O	-	-
Lower Sanyaku (Junior Champion Ranks)
S	Milos Raonic	S	-	-
S	Jo-Wilfried Tsonga	K	Grigor Dimitrov	K

Women

Career rank 1/	East	Current Rank	West	Career rank 1/
High Sanyaku (Senior Champion Ranks)
Dai-Y	Serena Williams	Y	Venus Williams	Y
O	Angelique Kerber (k)	O	-	-
Lower Sanyaku (Junior Champion Ranks)
S	Karolina Pliskova	S	-	-
O	Simona Halep	K1	Mirjana Lucic	K
K	Coco Vandeweghe	K2	Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova	K

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

Inactive Yokozuna: Maria Sharapova