Ranking Reaction: Iga Swiatek now up to No. 4, Maria Sakkari breaks Top 10

A week ago Iga Swiatek rose to a new career-high of No. 6, and this week she goes two better, rising to No. 4 after a semifinal showing at the WTA 500 event in Ostrava.

Not only is the 2020 Roland Garros champion the only woman to have reached the round of 16 or better at all four Grand Slams in 2021, but she’s actually reached the round of 16 or better at 11 of the 14 tournaments she’s played this year, period, including titles at the WTA 500 in Adelaide in February and at the WTA 1000 in Rome in May.

Swiatek was asked about her consistency at the majors this year at the US Open, where she reached the fourth round before falling to Belinda Bencic.

“I’m pretty proud of that,” she said. “I was thinking about it, like, two days ago, that it’s the only year basically when I don’t have any injury, and I don’t have to deal with that. I have other problems right now, but it’s easier when my body’s actually listening to me.

“So I’m just proud of my team and I’m really grateful I’m getting all the help I need. I’m pretty happy that I’m consistent. I know without them I wouldn’t be like that.

"Yeah, shout-out to my team.”

Swiatek is the 72nd woman in WTA rankings history (since 1975) to reach the Top 4. There have been 27 women who’ve reached No. 1, 12 who’ve gone as high as No. 2, 12 who’ve gone as high as No. 3 and now 21 who’ve gone as high as No. 4.

She’s also one of only two Polish players ever to reach the Top 5 in either ATP or WTA rankings history—Agnieszka Radwanska got to No. 2. The only other Polish player to reach the Top 10 was Wojtek Fibak, who got to No. 10 on the ATP rankings in 1977.

The woman who beat Swiatek in the semifinals of Ostrava over the weekend, Maria Sakkari, also makes a very notable move today, rising from No. 12 to No. 10 to become the second Greek player—and first Greek woman—to reach the Top 10 in either ATP or WTA rankings history. Stefanos Tsitsipas was the first Greek player to do it—he’s currently holding steady at a career-high of No. 3 on the ATP rankings.

Before Tsitsipas and Sakkari, the only Greek player to even reach the Top 20 was Eleni Daniilidou, who peaked at No. 14 in the world in the early 2000s.

With Tsitsipas at No. 3 and Sakkari at No. 10, Greece is one of only two countries to have Top 10 players on both the ATP and WTA rankings right now—Spain is the other, with Rafael Nadal currently ranked No. 6 and Garbine Muguruza at No. 9.

A little further down on the ATP rankings there was a Top 50 debut for one of 2021’s breakthrough stars, Ilya Ivashka, who rose from No. 52 to No.45 after reaching his third ATP semifinal of the year in Nur-Sultan. The Belarusian had also reached the final four in Munich and won his first ATP title in Winston-Salem, right before the US Open.