Ranking Reaction: Aryna Sabalenka passes Naomi Osaka for No. 2

There are a few notable shifts near the top of both the men’s and women’s rankings this week, with one of those shifts in particular having some major implications for the last major of the year—the US Open—which is just a week away.

The biggest news: Aryna Sabalenka has passed Naomi Osaka for No. 2.

Though Osaka did better than Sabalenka in Cincinnati (third round compared to second round), she was defending far more points from reaching the final of the WTA 1000 event last year (Sabalenka lost third round last year). The difference means that Sabalenka rises from No. 3 to No. 2 this week, with Osaka dipping from No. 2 to No. 3.

The shift comes just in time for the US Open seeds, which will be made off of this week's WTA rankings. That means that No. 3 Osaka could now fall on the same half of the draw as No. 1 Ashleigh Barty, though she could be on No. 2 Sabalenka’s half, too.

Sabalenka is the 39th woman to reach the Top 2 in WTA rankings history.

There have been 27 women to reach No. 1: Chris Evert, Evonne Goolagong, Martina Navratilova, Tracy Austin, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport, Jennifer Capriati, Venus Williams, Serena Williams, Kim Clijsters, Justine Henin, Amelie Mauresmo, Maria Sharapova, Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic, Dinara Safina, Caroline Wozniacki, Victoria Azarenka, Angelique Kerber, Karolina Pliskova, Garbine Muguruza, Simona Halep, Osaka and Barty.

And 12 women have a career-high of No. 2: Virginia Wade, Billie Jean King, Andrea Jaeger, Conchita Martinez, Jana Novotna, Anastasia Myskina, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Vera Zvonareva, Petra Kvitova, Agnieszka Radwanska, Li Na and Sabalenka.

Meanwhile, over on the ATP rankings, Alexander Zverev—fresh off his fifth career Masters 1000 crown in Cincinnati—rose from No. 5 to No. 4, bumping Rafael Nadal down from No. 4 to No. 5. The move won’t have any affect on the US Open seeds, though, given Nadal had already announced his withdrawal from the last Grand Slam of the year anyway, and Zverev was already set to be the No. 4 seed in New York.

Zverev is now just 110 points behind No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas (8,350 to 8,240).

This is Nadal’s first time being ranked outside the Top 4 since the week of May 8, 2017. He was No. 5 that week, too, but won Madrid and rose to No. 4 the following Monday.