Ranking Watch: Kvitova Cracks Top 5
Published October 03, 2011 07:47
Petra Kvitova, Angelique Kerber and Ayumi Morita made their Top 5, Top 30 and Top 40 debuts, respectively, on Monday's new rankings.
Kvitova's best result since her title at Wimbledon - a semifinal showing in Tokyo - not only secured her a spot in the season-ending TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships, but it triggered a rise of one spot to No.5 in the world. That made her the first Czech in the Top 5 since former No.2 Jana Novotna was No.5 in June 1999.
In going from No.33 to No.30, Kerber continued a season of good news for Germans. The last week of April was the first week two Germans were in the Top 30 since Steffi Graf retired in August 1999. In August, Andrea Petkovic became the first German in the Top 10 since Anke Huber was No.10 in October 2000 and the sixth German in the Top 10 in rankings history. Now, there are four Germans in the Top 30 for the first time since February 1994. Here is how this week compares to that one:
October 3, 2011| Player | Ranking |
| Andrea Petkovic | 11 |
| Sabine Lisicki | 17 |
| Julia Goerges | 19 |
| Angelique Kerber | 30 |
February 14, 1994
| Player | Ranking |
| Steffi Graf | 1 |
| Anke Huber | 10 |
| Sabine Hack | 20 |
| Barbara Rittner | 30 |
As for Morita, she went from No.42 to No.40, the highest a Japanese player has been ranked since Ai Sugiyama was No.38 in July 2009.
