The first ranking update of the new year sees French players Arnaud Genin and Margaux Randjbar both climb to new career-high rankings.
Genin moves up to No.2 in the world, after a superb breakthrough year in 2019. Meanwhile, Randjbar cracks the top-10 for the first time, up four spots to No.8 in the world.
While January would usually be a quiet month for ranking changes, a change in the rankings system means there has been far more movement than usual.
The new rankings have changed from taking into account the best 10 World Tour and 2 Challenger results to the best 8 World Tour and 2 Challenger results. The big hit for several players is that the rankings now only uses the results of one World Championship, rather than two. So what has this done to the rankings?
Men’s Singles: Genin and Rykowski Benefit from Rankings Change
While the top-10 remain the same 10 players, there has been plenty of movement amongst them. Arnaud Genin is the big winner of the rankings change. The Frenchman leaps over Dan Busby and Kresten Hougaard to reach a CH No.2 in the world. Hougaard suffers, dropping two spots to No.4 with Busby remaining No.3 in the world.
Rav Rykowski is another winner from the change, moving up two spots to No.7 in the rankings. Young duo Emanuel Schopf and Luka Penttinen are the players to suffer, Schopf falling three spots to No.8 with Penttinen behind him at No.9. Benjamin Graenicher remains at No.6 with Duncan Stahl at No.10.
Despite retiring from singles in early 2019, Lukas Windischberger’s 2018 results move him up three spots to No.5. As 2020 progresses and his 2018 results come off, Windischberger will fall off the rankings.
Windischberger’s eventual removal from the top-10 and Stahl’s vulnerable ranking creates opportunities for a slew of players to break into the top-10 for the first time. IWT Swedish Open champion Rene Lindberg is first in line at No.11 and is just 136 ranking points behind Stahl. Nikola Mikac is around 150 points further back at No.12. A big winner from the change is Cornelius Radermacher, who rises five spots to No.13.
Oliver Buhler and Christian Wiessner suffer as a result of the rankings change, moving down to No.16 and No.17. Leon Griffiths also tumbles down to No.20, a fall of four spots.
No other player in the top-100 rises or falls more than 10 spots apart from world champion Jesper Ratzer. Losing one of his World Championship points totals means he falls 32 spots to No.56.
Women’s Singles: Randjbar the Big Winner
Margaux Randjbar was the big winner in the rankings update as the Women’s Singles Rankings saw smaller changes than the Men’s Singles Rankings.
Randjbar made her top-10 debut, exploding in at No.8. However, her top 10 status is far from secure with seven players separated by 800 points in a tight section of the rankings. Randjbar’s rise saw fall for German players Natalie Paul, Silke Altmann and Astrid Reimer-Kern, who fall to No.9, No.10 and No.13 respectively.
Izzy Bramhall was the only other player to rise in the top-10, trading place with Kirsten Kaptein to move up one spot to No.5. Just outside the top-10, Elisabeth Seehofer rose three spots while Amke Fischer also rose three to No.11 and No.12 respectively.
The top four – Christine Seehofer, Zuzana Severinova, Anna-Klara Ahlmer and Bettina Bugl – all remain the same.
As with the Men’s Rankings, there was plenty of movement throughout the top-100, however, none of it was more than a handful of places.
Other Rankings Changes
The changes saw several moves across all rankings categories. However, only a handful saw a change in who was No.1. There was a change at the summit of the Mixed Doubles rankings, as Dan Busby returned to No.1. The Brit overtook his World Championship partner Christine Seehofer to reach the top.
The other big change came in the Girls Juniors. Former No.1 Zuzana Severinova is no longer eligible to qualify for the Juniors. This means Hannah Boden now takes over as No.1 in the Girls Juniors, Girls Juniors Doubles and Mixed Juniors Doubles.
The full FIR World Rankings are available here.
More information about the change in the rankings system is available here.
Sam Barker / FIR Media Officer
Image Credit / rubinfoto.com
