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FLUSHING MEADOWS, NY – You can’t ask for much more than a Grand Slam singles final which also is a battle for the No. 1 ranking.

Win it, win a major, get to the top of the heap.

That’s what 19-year-old Carlos Alcaraz did on Sunday on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

It was an impressive feat, in the image of his entire tournament and his succession of five-set victories.

WTA Rankings Report – As of Sept. 12, 2022

(For the full, updated ATP rankings for Monday, click here. There are so many more moves this week).

ON THE UPSWING

Carlos Alcaraz (ESP): No. 4 ==========> No. 1 (Much ink still to be spilled and bandwidth to be clogged with the takes on the crazy run of the 19-year-old Spaniard to the US Open title. It was off the charts).

Casper Ruud (NOR): No. 7 ==========> No. 2 (No less impressive is Ruud’s leap from No. 7 to No. 2, on the strength of his second Grand Slam singles final. He did better than he did in Paris vs. Nadal. And he’s on his way. But he’s not there yet).

Karen Khachanov (RUS): No. 31 ==========> No. 18 (Khachanov is back in the top 20 where he belongs, but it’s taken him awhile to get back there. He made a super run in New York in defeating Pablo Carreño Busta and then Nick Kyrgios in five sets).

Frances Tiafoe (USA): No. 26 ==========> No. 19 (A well-deserved entry into the top 20 for Tiafoe, who beat Rafael Nadal, along with Schwartzman and Rublev (both in straight sets) and won every tiebreak he played in reaching the semifinals. His match against Alcaraz in the semis was arguably the match of the tournament).

Nick Kyrgios (AUS): No. 25 ==========> No. 20 (Kyrgios, too, is back in the top 20. Had he received the points for his Wimbledon final, he’d be about No. 13. He’s back in Australia, passing on both Davis Cup and Laver Cup. But he is entered in some tournaments this fall, so we’ll see).

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (ESP): No. 39 ==========> No. 28 (The Spaniard is one off a career best reached in April. after he lost to Matteo Berrettini in five sets in the fourth round).

Andy Murray (GBR): No. 51 ==========> No. 43 (Murray went to the third round in New York, and is back into the top 50 after slipping out of it for a couple of weeks. Still not where he wants to be, but taking baby steps).

Jack Draper (GBR): No. 53 ==========> No. 46 (The impressive young British lefty had to retire in the third set of his third-round match against Khachenov, as his body said no más after his fifth tournament during the North American summer. Draper was at No. 85 when he began the summer, and ends it in the top 50. He had already beaten No. 49 Emil Ruusuvuori and No. 8 Félix Auger-Aliassime in straight sets to get there).

Daniel Elahi Galan (COL): No. 94 ==========> No. 75 (A career high, at age 26, after getting through the qualifying without dropping a set, upsetting Stefanos Tsitsipas in the first round and outlasting Jordan Thompson in five in the second round before bowing out to Davidovich Fokina. At No. 94 coming in, he was actually ranked higher than Thompson, but the deadline for entry forced him into the qualies).

Corentin Moutet (FRA): No. 112 ==========> No. 84 (The 23-year-old Frenchman, who was as high as No. 67 in May, 2021, bounces back into the top 100 after making the fourth round as a lucky loser at the US Open).

Hugo Grenier (FRA): No. 119 ==========> No. 95 (The fairly obscure 26-year-old Frenchman leaps into the top 100 for the first time after making the second round as a lucky loser in New York – then jetting to Cassis, France to win a Challenger during the second week of the Open).

Yibing Wu (CHN): No. 174==========> No. 131 (At 22, suddenly the Chinese player is coming. He won three Challengers in the US over the summer, qualified for the US Open and lost in the third round to Daniil Medvedev to get to a career high. Before he won the Orlando Challenger in June his ranking stood at No. 617).

Christopher Eubanks (USA): No. 145 ==========> No. 133 (Eubanks finally won a main-draw match at the US Open, after getting through the qualifying. He’s at a career high in singles and also had a pretty good time in mixed and in men’s doubles with young Ben Shelton).

Kimmer Coppejans (BEL): No. 292 ==========> No. 200 (The 2012 Roland Garros junior champion, now 28, went from the qualifying to the title at the Toulouse Challenger the first week of the US Open, then made the quarterfinals of another last week. That’s a nice bump).

Brandon Holt (USA): No. 303==========> No. 223 (Needless to say, a career high for the 24-year-old, the son of Tracy Austin, who qualified at the US Open and thrilled Mom, and all of those who have supposed him on his slow rise after a stellar college career. He beat No. 12 Taylor Fritz in the first round of the main draw, too – before winning the first two sets easily against Pedro Cachin in the second round, only to fall 10-6 in the deciding fifth-set tiebreak).

Bernard Tomic (AUS): No. 825 ==========> No. 801 (Tomic moves up 24 spots with a quarterfinal effort in his first $15K in Cancun just before the US Open, points that finally come on board. He won a rain-delayed final Monday to take the second Cancun event. And with those eight points he’ll move up another 80-some spots when the points come on the computer next week. He’s definitely going back to basics).

ON THE DOWNSWING

Daniil Medvedev (RUS): No. 1 ==========> No. 4 (The defending US Open champion didn’t come in playing his best tennis, and indeed didn’t do it, bowing out in the fourth round. To be fair, meeting Nick Kyrgios in the fourth round was no gift).

Alexander Zverev (GER): No. 2 ==========> No. 5 (Zverev lost a tough five-setter to Novak Djokovic at last year’s US Open, in the semifinals. He hasn’t played since injuring his ankle in the Roland Garros semi against Rafael Nadal. He has points to defend – quarters at the fall 2021 Indian Wells, a title at the 500 in Vienna a semifinal at the Paris Masters and a win at the ATP Tour finals. He’s supposed to be back this fall – but he’ll be short of matches, rusty and perhaps not fully recovered).

Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN): No. 8 ==========> No. 13 (The Canadian stayed quite a long time in the otp 10. But he lost early to Jack Draper in New York, and didn’t defend his semifinal there. He switched course and will represent Canada in the Davis Cup finals prelims this week in Valencia).

Denis Shapovalov (CAN): No. 21 ==========> No. 24 (It wasn’t an optimal US Open for the Canadian. But it was an encouraging one and he can take some positives going forward as he tries to finish the season in style).

Botic van de Zandschulp (NED): No. 22 ==========> No. 35 (The Dutchman went from the qualies to the quarters a year ago in New York, rising from No. 117 to No. 62 in the rankings and announcing his arrival. This year, he went out rather meekly to Corentin Moutet in the second round).

Reilly Opelka (USA): No. 28 ==========> No. 38 (Opelka has been out with a heel injury for most of the North American summer. He dropped finals points in Canada, and fourth-round points in the US Open as he was forced onto the sidelines).

Oscar Otte (GER): No. 41 ==========> No. 52 (Last year’s US Open points fall off, but Otte is still in decent shape).

Pedro Martinez (ESP): No. 54 ==========> No. 67 (Same deal for Martinez, who lost in the first round in New York to Christopher Eubanks – and then lost in the first round of a clay Challenger in Seville during the second week of the tournament).

Pablo Andujar (ESP): No. 92 ==========> No. 113 (Andujar was a late scratch from the US Open, and drops out of the top 100 as a result of not defending his 2021 points. He made the third round last year).

Jack Sock (USA): No. 107 ==========> No. 128 (Sock’s comeback from injury has been a rollerc0aster, and retirement in the first round against Diego Schwartzman – after winning the first two sets – because of a back issue costs him in the rankings).

Lloyd Harris (RSA): No. 65 ==========> No. 140 (Out with injury since Roland Garros and winless since Barcelona, Harris’s 2021 quarterfinal US Open points drop).

Juan Manuel Cerundolo (ARG): No. 124 ==========> No. 186 (Now 20, the Argentine lefty got to No. 79 back in January, nearly a year after he went from the qualifying to the title in a “home” ATP event in Cordoba. He followed that up with plenty of success on the Challenger circuit. But in trying to make the transition to the ATP Tour full-time, he’s been beset by injuries. He drops points from winning back-to-back Challengers in Italy a year ago, during the US Open).

Alexis Galarneau (CAN): No. 228 ==========> No. 247 (Galarneau, who fell just short of making the cut for qualifying in New York, had to skip the Granby Challenger to get there, just in case. And now he’s missing more Challenger opportunities because he’s been called for Davis Cup. It’s great stuff (and some nice $$$ to help finance his career). But it’s not helping him much in the rankings right now).