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ROLAND GARROS – The week before a Grand Slam tournament is always a fascinating one, as unexpected players can pull up big results.

Some are into the event because so many top-100 players might not want to play the week before a major. Although there is better attendance on the women’s side, compared to the men.

This particular week, three veteran former world No. 1s decided to take wild cards and play late in the game, to get some matches.

In the end, Angelique Kerber was able to grind her way to a title in Strasbourg. She beat Kaja Juvan of Slovenia 7-6, 6-7, 7-6 in 3h16. Probably not what she wanted a couple of days before a major. But the title will do her good.

ATP Rankings Report – As of May 23, 2022

For the complete rankings picture, click here.

ON THE UPSWING

Maria Sakkari (GRE): No. 4 ========= No. 3 (Sakkari moves up to a career high not because she did a thing, but because Paula Badosaa played the women’s Serbian Open the week before last year’s Roland Garros – and won it. And she didn’t defend those points. It’s definitely not because either of them is in particularly good form).

Angelique Kerber (GER): No. 22 ========= No. 17 (It was a grind for Kerber, who decided late to play Strasbourg. But after a 3h16 final that involved three tiebreaks on Saturday, she won in Strasbourg and hoisted herself back into the top 20).

Nuria Parrizas Diaz (ESP): No. 48========= No. 45 (For whatever reason, it fels like Parrizas Dias, who is 30, might vulture her first career title in Rabat last week. She didn’t – she lost in the quarterfinals. But she still moved up to a new career high).

Viktorija Golubic (SUI): No. 60 ========= No. 53 (Golubic made the Strasbourg quarterfinals last week).

Martina Trevisan (ITA): No. 85 ========= No. 59 (A new career high for the 28-year-old lefty, as she wins in Rabat. It’s her first career title).

Anna Bondar (HUN): No. 67 ========= No. 61 (Another career high for the 24-year-old from Hungary, who is quietly rising in the charts and made the Rabat semifinals).

Kaja Juvan (SLO): No. 81 ========= No. 68 (The 21-year-old from Slovenia made the Strasbourg final, losing that marathon to Angelique Kerber. She reached a new career high).

Lucia Bronzetti (ITA): No. 83 ========= No. 73 (Bronzetti made the semis in Rabat and also reaches a new career high).

Claire Liu (USA): No. 92 ========= No. 75 (Liu, a 21-year-old American, made the Rabat final but was crushed 6-2, 6-1 by Trevisan in a battle of first-time finalists. Still, it’s another career high for her).

Océane Dodin (FRA): No. 94 ========= No. 84 (Dodin made the Strasbourg semis, but retired after losing the first set in a tiebreak to Kerber. Maybe she knew what she might be up against, and decided if she had a little niggle right before her “home Slam”, it wasn’t worth the wear-and-wear).

Astra Sharma (AUS): No. 144 ========= No. 124 (Sharma made the Rabat quarterfinals and moves up 20 spots, a month after she earned her master’s degree in Applied Physiology and Kinesiology from the University of Florida. She was inside the top 100 at the Roland Garros deadline, and so is straight tinto the draw).

Elvina Kalieva (USA): No. 290 ========= No. 249 (The 18-year-old American is into the final at the $60K in Pelham, Alabama – if she wins, she’ll get to about No. 226. Either way, a career high).

Cadence Brace (CAN): No. 963 ========= No. 817 (A 17-year-old Canadian who, for whatever reasons, isn’t part of the crew of similarly-aged players Tennis Canada has all over the junior circuit, moves up … 146 spots as she grinds it out on the U.S. ITF circuit. She qualified for two tournaments, and won a round at the ITF in Sarasota).

Samantha Crawford (USA): No. 1176 ========= No. 839 (Now 27, the American was out for years with a major knee issue, and is jut coming back. She reached the semifinals at an ITF in Sarasota to jump … 333 spots in the rankings).

ON THE DOWNSWING

Paula Badosa (ESP): No. 3 ========= No. 4 (She’s still the No. 3 seed, but Badosa drops a spot after not defending her points from last year’s one-off women’s Serbian Open, held two weeks before Paris).

Coco Gauff (USA): No. 18 ========= No. 23 (Gauff won the one-off Emilia-Romagna Open in Parma a year ago, over Wang Qiang in the final. But she didn’t play last week, and so drops out of the top 20. It hasn’t been nearly the same kind of spring for the 18-year-old American, who also made the semifinals in Rome a year ago. On the plus side, she accomplished a big thing this week. If it’s weird to take your “graduation photos” with a cap and down in Paris and not with your classmates … well, if you do online school you can probably have them taken wherever you want to).

https://twitter.com/CocoGauff/status/1527982591294447618

Katerina Siniakova (CZE): No. 47 ========= No. 56 (Siniakova drops out of hte top 50 after not defending her Parma semi from a year ago. She defeated Clara Tauson, Serena Williams and Caroline Garcia befor losing a three-setter to Gauff in the semis. She hasn’t played since retiring down 0-6, 0-1 to Elena Rybakina in the second round of Madrid. That came nearly a month after she retired by the exact same score in the third round of the Miami Open (to Daria Saville), after beating Rebecca Marino and Emma Raducanu in three-setters. We’re not expecting a ton from her in Paris).

Sloane Stephens (USA): No. 53 ========= No. 64 (Stephens, now 29 and still a newlywed, is just sort of there, losing in the first round of all three of her tournaments on clay this spring. A year ago, she seemed a little perkier, and made the semis in Parma (which she didn’t defend). A year ago in Paris she got to the fourth round, so that’s 240 more points coming up that she needs to take care of).

Camila Osorio (COL): No. 54 ========= No. 66 (The 20-year-old former Maria Camila Osorio Serrano went from the qualifying to the semis a year ago in Belgrade, and didn’t defend. On the plus side, she had to qualify last year in Paris even though she was inside the top 100 by the time of the qualifying because of that result in Belgrade. Osorio made the semis at home in Bogota the week after Miami – but then didn’t play again until she lost in the second round in Rome).

Ana Konjuh (CRO): No. 66========= No. 85 (Konjuh, who came back from basically nowhere after so many injuries to get to the top 50, has been quiet of late. She lost in the first round of Strasbourg, and dropped all the points she was defending from a year ago).

Wang Qiang (CHN): No. 100 ========= No. 129 (A big drop for Wang, who doesn’t defend points from a year ago. She’s a former world No. 12).

Viktoriya Tomova (BUL): No. 113======== No. 140 (Tomova went from the qualifying to the semifinals a year ago in Serbia, and drops those points. On the plus side, despite losing in the final round of qualifying, she got into Roland Garros as a lucky loser).

Sara Errani (ITA): No. 160 ========= No. 194 (Errani drops points from a quarterfinal effort in Parma last year. And she also lost in the second round of qualifying at Roland Garros. She’s 35. Crazy).

Serena Williams (USA): No. 246 ========= No. 276 (Williams earned some points from the Parma tournament a year ago. She’s not playing – and so will drop a bunch more from last year’s Roland Garros in two weeks).