Fare Well, Champion

A career-high Ozeki (=Champion) has announced his retirement from the sport: Juan Martin del Potro, the 27th male Ozeki of the open era. 

Juan Martin del Potro

Del Potro crossed the "great hurdle" (this is what 'Ozeki' means literally in Japanese) for the first time in 2009, when he won the US Open in 2009 as a 20-year old, following a semi-final at the 2009 French Open. In the semifinals and in the final, Del Potro defeated both Yokozuna (=Grand Champions)  in succession - Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. He obtained active Ozeki status for a second time in 2018 after a series of strong grand slam tournaments, peaking with another US Open final. Del Potro also won a bronze and a silver medal and the 2012/2016 Olympics respectively. 

Del Potro's ability to generate speed and raw power was unique and feared by his opponents, his trademark thunderbolt flat forehand was an almost undefeatable weapon when he hit it cleanly. However, his career was interrupted time and again by long stretches of injury: in 2010, 2013-16, and now again since 2019. His large frame - del Potro is almost 2 meters tall and weighs close to 100 kilos - did unfortunately not take too well to the strains of professional tennis, otherwise he may well have had the potential for Yokozuna. 

The Argentine was one of the most humble and sympathetic  personalities on the professional tennis tour and almost universally liked. He is leaving the tour at 33 years of age. 

Fare well, champion. You will be missed.

The 2022 Australian Open: Promotions, Demotions and Other Stats

2022 Australian Open Champions:

• Rafael Nadal (Dai-Yokozuna)

• Ashleigh Barty (Ozeki)

New Career Sanyaku Rank:

• Daniil Medvedev, the 35th Male Ozeki of the Open Era

• Matteo Berrettini, the 36th Male Ozeki of the Open Era

• Danielle Collins, the 58th Female Sekiwake of the Open Era

Sanyaku Rank Changes

Player (career rank if different)	To	From
Promotions
Daniil Medvedev	Ozeki	Sekiwake
Matteo Berrettini	Ozeki	Sekiwake
Stefanos Tsitsipas	Ozeki	Sekiwake
Danielle Collins	Sekiwake	Maegashira
Denis Shapovalov	Komusubi	Maegashira
Madison Keys (ex-Ozeki)	Komusubi	Maegashira
Iga Swiatek (ex-Sekiwake)	Komusubi	Maegashira
Demotions
Karolina Pliskova (ex-Ozeki)	Komusubi	Sekiwake
Aryna Sabalenka	Komusubi	Sekiwake
Maria Sakkari	Komusubi	Sekiwake
Emma Raducanu	Komusubi	Sekiwake
Leylah Fernandez	Komusubi	Sekiwake

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

• Amanda Anisimova (ex-Komusubi) - for beating Yokozuna Naomi Osaka in Round 3

Other noteworthy developments:

• Dai-Yokozuna (Great Grand Champion) Rafael Nadal won his 21st grand slam title and therefore the most slams of any male tennis player in the open era.
• In terms of the pure stats, however, Nadal remains #3 in the open area top 20 ranking - behind Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, who both have 20 titles but participated in many more grand slam finals and semifinals. This said, Sanyaku Tennis does not really participate in the so-called GOAT debate. To us, every player who reached Dai-Yokozuna status represents the pinnacle of the sport, with unique achievements each in his or her own way. Splitting hair at this level is silly: you don't compare royalty.

• Finalist Daniil Medvedev got promoted to Ozeki (=Champion), but he missed out by a whisker on back-to-back grand slam titles and hence on an immediate Yokozuna (=Grand Champion) promotion - he would have been the 19th male Yokzouna of the open era. Medvedev looks every bit like a future Yokozuna, but one never knows. Semifinalist Matteo Berrettini also got promoted to Ozeki, while the other semi-finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas earned a re-repromotion to the same rank.
• The "next gen" fills four Ozeki slots now and has truly arrived in the sanyaku rankings (the fourth Ozeki Alexander Zverev, who lost early and goes kadoban - i.e. needs a quarterfinal to the French open to defend rank). This said, noone has made it to Yokozuna yet - this is still reserved to the old masters, Nadal and Djokovic (the third master, Federer, is an inactive Yokozuna at present).

• In the ladies's game, Ashleigh Barty won her third grand slam title and confimed Ozeki rank. She is now the top tier in ladies' tennis, as both Yokozuna - Dai-Yokozuna Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka - failed to make the semifinals in four consecutive grand slam tournaments (Williams did not participate this time, Osaka lost in round 3). Hence both are listed as inactive Yokozuna now, leaving ladies' tennis without an active Grand Champion. By contrast, the lower Sanyaku ranks (Sekiwake and Komusubi) are filled with no less than 9 female players who had success at the last three grand slam tournaments, among them Australian Open finalist Danielle Collins.

Sanyaku Ranks Following the 2022 Australian Open

Men

Career rank 1/	East	Current Rank	West	Career rank 1/
High Sanyaku (Senior Champion Ranks)
Dai-Y	Rafael Nadal	Y	Novak Djokovic	Dai-Y
O	Alexander Zverev (k)	O1	Daniil Medvedev	O
O	Stefanos Tsitsipas	O2	Matteo Berrettini	O
Lower Sanyaku (Junior Champion Ranks)
S	Felix Auger-Aliassime	S	-	-
K	Denis Shapovalov	K	-	-

Women

Career rank 1/	East	Current Rank	West	Career rank 1/
High Sanyaku (Senior Champion Ranks)
-	-	Y	-	-
O	Ashleigh Barty	O	-	-
Lower Sanyaku (Junior Champion Ranks)
S	Barbora Krejcikova	S	Danielle Collins	S
O	Karolina Pliskova	K1	Aryna Sabalenka	S
S	Maria Sakkari	K2	Emma Raducanu	S
S	Leylah Fernandez	K3	Madison Keys	O
S	Iga Swiatek	K4	-	-

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

Daniil Medvedev and Matteo Berrettini, Ozeki

Daniil Medvedev

Double Ozeki (=Champion) promotion in mens' tennis: Daniil Medvedev and Matteo Berrettini both crossed the "great hurdle" (this is what "Ozeki" means literally in Japanese) at the 2022 Australian open to become the 35th and the 36th male Ozeki of the open era (the sanyaku rank lists will be updated once the tournament has completed). 

Medvedev reached Ozeki by following up on his triumph at the 2021 US Open with another grand slam quarterfinal participation. By now he has even reached the semifinals; if he wins the tournament he would earn a promotion to the 19th male Yokozuna (=Grand Champion) of the open era. 

Matteo Berrettini

Berrettini plays a third consecutive successful grand slam tournament: final at Wimbledon, quarterfinals in New York, (at least) semifinal in Melbourne. Different from Medvedev, he cannot earn a Yokozuna promotion at this tournament, however.

Elsewhere in the tournament, Stefanos Tsitsipas earned re-promotion to Ozeki by reaching the semifinals after two weaker grand slam tournaments. In the ladies' game, both Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka will lose active Yokozuna status, as they failed to make a grand slam semifinal for four consecutive tournaments - Williams did not participate, Osaka went out in round 3. This will leave Ashleigh Barty as the only female player with a high sanyaku rank (Yokozuna or Ozeki) after the 2022 Australian Open.

Full updates will come once the tournament completes.

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:

• Felix Auger-Aliassime, the 78th Male Sekiwake of the Open Era

• Maria Sakkari, the 54th Female Sekiwake of the Open Era

• Aryna Sabalenka, the 55th Female Sekiwake of the Open Era

• Emma Raducanu, the 56th Female Sekiwake of the Open Era

• Leylah Fernandez, the 57th Female Sekiwake of the Open Era

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 Tsitsipas	Sekiwake	Ozeki
Dominik Thiem (ex-Ozeki)	Maegashira	Komusubi
Dennis Shapovalov	Maegashira	Komusubi
Hubert Hurcacz	Maegashira	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 Muchova	Maegashira	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 Nadal	Dai-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 Williams	Dai-Y
O	Ashleigh Barty (k)	O	-	-
Lower Sanyaku (Junior Champion Ranks)
O	Karolina Pliskova	S1	Aryna Sabalenka	S
S	Maria Sakkari	S2	Emma Raducanu	S
S	Leylah Fernandez	S3	Barbora Krejcikova	S
-	-	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