Ranking Reaction: Holger Rune reaches new high of No. 8, Sara Errani returns to Top 100

The new ATP rankings are out and one of the fastest-rising stars in the sport, Holger Rune, has hit a new career-high of No. 8 after reaching the semifinals of the ATP 500 event in Acapulco.

The Danish teenager has now reached the semifinals or better in six of his last nine tournaments, a stretch that began with him reaching four consecutive finals last fall (winning Stockholm and Paris and finishing runner-up at Sofia and Basel). He’s reached another two semifinals so far this year, at Montpellier and Acapulco.

Rune, who was ranked No. 86 at this time a year ago, is now just the third man born in 2000 or later ever to reach the Top 8.

MEN BORN IN 2000 OR LATER TO REACH TOP 8 ON ATP RANKINGS
~ Carlos Alcaraz, born 2003 [career-high No. 1 in 2022]
~ Felix Auger-Aliassime, born 2000 [career-high No. 6 in 2022]
~ Holger Rune, born 2003 [career-high No. 8 in 2023]

Other notable movers on the ATP rankings this week include Alex de Minaur, who rises from No. 22 to No. 18—his first time in the Top 20 since last year’s US Open—after winning the biggest title of his career in Acapulco, and Nicolas Jarry, who soars from No. 87 to No. 52 after winning the ATP 250 clay-court event in Santiago. It’s Jarry’s second big jump in two weeks, after the Chilean surged from No. 139 to No. 87 last week following his run to the semifinals in Rio.

The two WTA champions from last week also make big moves: Donna Vekic, who won her fourth career WTA title in Monterrey, rises from No. 31 to No. 23, her highest ranking in more than three years; and Marta Kostyuk rises from No. 52 to No. 40, obliterating her previous career-high of No. 49, after capturing the first WTA title of her career at the new WTA stop in Austin, Texas.

And last but certainly not least, Sara Errani makes a long-awaited return to the Top 100, rising from No. 107 to No. 97 after winning a $60,000 ITF Women’s Circuit event in Arcadia, California.

Errani dropped out of the Top 100 in 2018 amidst an anti-doping violation suspension—she returned to the tour in 2019 and fell as low as No. 366 that year but has been working her way back up ever since, her biggest title since then coming at a WTA 125K event on clay in France last July. She’s been ranked in the No. 101-110 range since last September, and now she’s finally back in the Top 100.

The Italian’s career highlights include reaching one Grand Slam final at Roland Garros in 2012 (finishing runner-up to Maria Sharapova), a career-high of No. 5 in 2013 and winning nine career WTA titles, the biggest one being a WTA 500 in Dubai in 2016.

At the very top of the WTA rankings, Iga Swiatek is about to defend a total of 2,000 points during the Sunshine Double. Is it possible for anyone to take No. 1 from her over the next four weeks? The answer is no—but one player could come somewhat close.

Swiatek currently has 10,585 ranking points—in the very unlikely event that she loses her opening match at both events, she’ll leave with 8,605 points. Meanwhile, No. 2-ranked Aryna Sabalenka currently has 6,100 points—she’s only defending 20 points because she lost her opening match at both events last year, and if she goes on to win both events, she’ll leave with 8,080 points.

Here’s where the current WTA Top 10 are without their points from Indian Wells and Miami from last year:
No. 1 Iga Swiatek: 8,585 points
No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka: 6,080 points
No. 3 Jessica Pegula: 5,095 points
No. 4 Ons Jabeur: 4,791 points
No. 5 Caroline Garcia: 4,860 points
No. 6 Coco Gauff: 4,066 points
No. 7 Maria Sakkari: 2,791 points
No. 8 Daria Kasatkina: 3,300 points
No. 9 Belinda Bencic: 2,960 points
No. 10 Elena Rybakina: 2,655 points

A title in Indian Wells or Miami earns 1,000 points, then 650 points for a final, 390 for a semifinal, 215 for a quarterfinal, 120 for a fourth round, 65 for a third round and, for the above players, 10 for losing their second-round match (after a first-round bye).