Ranking Reaction: Borna Coric rockets from No. 152 to No. 29 after winning Cincinnati

“I have no words, to be honest,” Borna Coric said after becoming the lowest-ranked champion in Masters 1000 history on Sunday, capturing the title in Cincinnati ranked No. 152.

And today, the former No. 12 explodes up the ATP rankings, rising 123 spots to No. 29, his first time in the Top 100 since he returned from a year-long shoulder injury lay-off in March, and his highest ranking since last May, which was when he had surgery on the shoulder.

He fell as low as No. 278 during Roland Garros this year, but worked his way back into the Top 200 over the last two months with some solid results on clay, winning a Challenger in Italy and reaching the quarters of the ATP 500 in Hamburg—but now, after capturing the biggest title of his career, he’s already guaranteed to be seeded at the US Open.

“I thought I could play well,” he said after defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final in Cincinnati, his third Top 10 win of the week. “I was training hard, and I knew I could play good tennis, but that I could play this level tennis, I was just not aware.”

Even better news for Coric: he’s not defending a single ranking point until March 2023.

Meanwhile, two of the players Coric took out en route to the title—Felix Auger-Aliassime and Cam Norrie—both set new career-highs this week, the Canadian rising from No. 9 to No. 8 and the Brit going from No. 11 to No. 9, jumping over his previous personal best of No. 10.

Auger-Aliassime is the fourth player born in the 2000s, male or female, to reach the Top 8.

PLAYERS BORN IN 2000s TO REACH TOP 8 ON ATP OR WTA RANKINGS:
~ Iga Swiatek (No. 1 on WTA rankings in 2022)
~ Bianca Andreescu (No. 4 on WTA rankings in 2019)
~ Carlos Alcaraz (No. 4 on ATP rankings in 2022)
~ Felix Auger-Aliassime (No. 8 on ATP rankings in 2022)

Jannik Sinner and Emma Raducanu are the only other 2000s-born players to reach the Top 10, getting to No. 9 and No. 10 on the ATP and WTA rankings, respectively.

Caroline Garcia is the biggest winner of the week on the WTA rankings, cutting her ranking in more than half by rising from No. 35 to No. 17 after capturing the equal-biggest title of her career in Cincinnati—it’s her third WTA 1000 title, having won Wuhan and Beijing in 2017.

The Frenchwoman was actually ranked as low as No. 75 the week before Wimbledon—which was just two months ago. She jumped up to No. 55 a week later after winning a grass-court title in Bad Homburg, rose from No. 45 to No. 32 after capturing a clay-court title in Warsaw and is now back in the Top 20 after her hard-court triumph in Cincy.

This is the former world No. 4’s first time in the Top 20 since April 2019.

There are several more notable moves on the WTA rankings this week: Beatriz Haddad Maia, who reached her first WTA 1000 final in Toronto just over a week ago, inches up from No. 16 to No. 15 for her Top 15 debut; Madison Keys rises from No. 24 to No. 20 after reaching the semis in Cincinnati, her first time in the Top 20 since last April; and Petra Kvitova nearly returns to the Top 20 herself, rising from No. 28 to No. 21 after reaching the final in Cincy.