MELBOURNE, Australia – The status quo has been maintained at the top of the men’s rankings after Novak Djokovic’s dramatic win over Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open, unlike the situation on the women’s tour.
Official rankings to be released Monday show Djokovic maintaining the No. 1 spot on the ATP Tour after winning his third major in a row. Djokovic’s 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-5 victory in five hours 53 minutes was the longest Grand Slam final in professional tennis.
Victoria Azarenka moved to No. 1 on the women’s tour with her first Grand Slam title, an emphatic win over Maria Sharapova on Saturday. Caroline Wozniacki dropped from No. 1 to No. 4, with Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova remaining in second spot and Sharapova moving up one place to third in the rankings.
U.S. Open champion Sam Stosur, who lost in the first round at Melbourne Park, moves into fifth from sixth despite the poor result at her home major, while Agnieszka Radwanska moves to a career-high No. 6.
Marion Bartoli of France moves up to two places seventh, while Vera Zvonareva is No. 8, Li Na ninth and Andre Petkovic, who withdrew from the Australian due to a stress fracture in her back, remains at 10.
Li dropped four places from fifth after she lost in the fourth round to defending champion Kim Clijsters in a rematch of the 2011 final. Li had a high number of ranking points to defend as a losing finalist in 2011.
Clijsters, who lost in the semifinals to Azarenka this year at Melbourne Park, is projected to drop to 30th from 11th.
Serena Williams, who lost in the fourth round, will remain at No. 12.
The only change in the men’s top 10 is at No. 10, where 2009 U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro replaces Nicolas Almagro.
Nadal remained at No. 2 after losing his third straight Grand Slam final — all of them to Djokovic.
Roger Federer, who lost to Nadal in the Australian Open semifinals, remains in third place, followed by Andy Murray, who lost to Djokovic in the semifinals.
David Ferrer is fifth, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga sixth, Tomas Berdych seventh, Mardy Fish eighth and Janko Tipsarevic ninth.
