Djokovic and Sabalenka among historic rankings changes this week

Are you ready for some changes, tennis fans? Ready or not, the number one rankings on both the singles and doubles on the WTA and ATP tours are changing this week. That has never happened before in the 50 years since the rankings became normalized. And Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka are among the winners.

Sabalenka is oertaking Iga Swiatek atop the WTA. Swiatek had held the top ranking for a year-and-a-half though Sabalenka has crept pretty close to overtaking her before. But as Swiatek fell well short of the finals of the US Open, and Sabalenka made the final, the Belarusian is the new number one.

How long she holds that ranking remains to be seen. Swiatek could overtake Sabalenka, of course. Or Coco Gauff, who has been playing incredible tennis since July and just won the US Open, could catch up fairly quickly. Gauff moved up to number three on the WTA this week.

ATP and WTA have new number ones in Djokovic and Sabalenka, respectively

Djokovic is moving back into number one on the ATP. He was basically assured of doing so even if former number one Carlos Alcaraz had won the US Open. Rankings points roll over from calendar year to calendar year so players who do well one year have to keep winning the same tournaments and winning new ones or they risk losing their top ranking. Basically, how players earn points can be weird.

While Djokovic is back to being number one on the ATP, he could lose the ranking even if he continues to win tournaments the rest of the year. Alcaraz was injured near the end of last calendar year and missed the Nitto ATP Finals, so if he participates this year and wins the tournament, he could regain the top spot. As I said, rankings can be strange.

In ATP doubles, Austin Krajicek will regain the top ranking. Former numbers ones Neal Skupski and Wesley Koolhof lost in the third round of the US Open and lost out on 1,020 points apiece. Ouch. Krajicek basically walked into the top ranking.

In WTA doubles, Coco Gauff, who appears to be moving up everywhere, and her doubles partner, top-ten singles player Jessica Pegula, will move to number one. Former numbers ones Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova lost in the second round of the US Open. Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula could hold the top ranking for some time to come.