NEW YORK (US) – US. Open champion Naomi Osaka has scaled six spots up to the third position in the latest WTA rankings released on Monday. Victoria Azarenka’s career saw a revival as she returned to the top-15.
The 22-year-old Osaka, who beat Azarenka in a thrilling final on Saturday to clinch her second Grand Slam title in New York and third overall, was the only player among the top-10 to secure positions.
Osaka also became the finalist of the Western & Southern Open, held at Flushing Meadows this year due to the pandemic, but had to pull out against Azarenka due to an injury.
Azarenka, who was also a former world number one, had no match victory to her credit this year when she arrived in New York and had ranked 59.
But the two-time Australian Open champion made her comeback by making it to her first Grand Slam final in seven years.
It helped her climb to number 14 in the WTA rankings, her highest since January, 2017.