Ranking Reaction: Zheng Qinwen breaks into Top 10 after reaching Australian Open final

After a wild two weeks at the Australian Open, there’s a lot of movement on both the ATP and WTA rankings this week.

And that includes a brand new Top 10 player: Zheng Qinwen, who reached the first Grand Slam final of her career in Australia, has risen from No. 15 to No. 7 on the WTA rankings today, soaring past her previous career-high of No. 13 to make her Top 10 debut.

The 21-year-old joined two very exclusive lists with her results Down Under. Not only was she just the second Chinese player, male or female, ever to reach a Grand Slam final (Li Na was the first, winning two majors and reaching another two major finals), but now she’s just the second Chinese player to reach the Top 10 in either ATP or WTA rankings history, after Li, who reached No. 2.

And there’s a big breakthrough in Chinese men’s tennis as well.

Following a second-round showing at the Australian Open, Zhang Zhizhen has risen from No. 54 to No. 50, making him the first Chinese player to reach the Top 50 in ATP rankings history.

Zhang is one of two Chinese men ever to break into the Top 100, along with Wu Yibing, who went as high as No. 54 last year.

It’s a big week on the rankings for another country, too, as Ukrainians Elina Svitolina, Marta Kostyuk and Dayana Yastremska all make very notable upwards moves after deep runs Down Under.

Despite having to retire from her fourth-round match with back spasms, Svitolina rises from No. 23 to No. 19, not only her first time reaching the Top 20 since she came back to the tour as a mom, but now passing Victoria Azarenka to become the No. 1 mom on tour.

Kostyuk rises from No. 37 to No. 28, jumping past her previous career-high of No. 32 to make her Top 30 debut, after reaching the first Grand Slam quarterfinal of her career in Melbourne.

And Yastremska makes the biggest move of them all, soaring from No. 93 to No. 29 after reaching the first Grand Slam semifinal of her career. A former No. 21, she became the first female qualifier to reach the Australian Open semifinals since Christine Dorey in 1978.

As if that’s not enough, there are two Ukrainian women just outside the Top 30, too—No. 31 Lesia Tsurenko and No. 32 Anhelina Kalinina.

There was history for Portugal in Australia, too, as Nuno Borges became just the second player from his country, male or female, ever to reach the round of 16 at a major, after Joao Sousa (who did it twice at the US Open in 2018 and Wimbledon in 2019).

The former college star’s run to the fourth round included two breakthrough wins—his first Top 30 win against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and his first Top 20 win against Grigor Dimitrov—and his reward for all of that is his Top 50 debut, as he rises from No. 69 to No. 47 on the ATP rankings this week.

And the breakthroughs don’t end there: Czech teenager Linda Noskova rises from No. 50 to No. 30, her Top 30 debut, after reaching her first major quarterfinal, taking out Iga Swiatek along the way; 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva rises from No. 47 to No. 35, her Top 40 debut, after a run to the fourth round in Melbourne; Anna Kalinskaya jumps from No. 75 to No. 38, her Top 50 debut, after reaching her first major quarterfinal; and Arthur Cazaux rises from No. 122 to No. 83, his Top 100 debut, after reaching the fourth round in Melbourne, taking out Holger Rune along the way.

Hubert Hurkacz makes a small but very notable move himself, rising from No. 9 to a new career-high of No. 8 after becoming the first Polish man ever to reach the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.

And last but definitely not least, history-maker Rohan Bopanna.

On Saturday, at age 43 years and 329 days, Bopanna became the oldest man in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam men’s doubles title, lifting the trophy with Australia’s Matthew Ebden. Bopanna breaks that record by more than three years (the previous record belonged to Jean-Julien Rojer, who won the 2022 Roland Garros men’s doubles title at 40 years and 284 days).

And today, at age 43 years and 331 days, Bopanna rises to No. 1 in doubles—the oldest man to reach No. 1 in ATP rankings history in either singles or doubles. Bopanna breaks that record by more than two years (the previous record belonged to Mike Bryan, who was 41 years and 76 days when he last held the top spot in 2019).

Bopanna is also the third Indian man in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam men’s doubles title, after Leander Paes (who won eight) and Mahesh Bhupathi (who won four).