LIVE RANKINGS. Naomi Osaka to stay world no.1 until the US Open after Barty’s defeat

Naomi will stay at the top of the rankings, but probably not after the US Open

Naomi Osaka

Naomi Osaka will not lose her world no.1 rank, at least after this week.

The Japanese sensation had to withdraw in the quarterfinals in Cincinnati when playing against Sofia Kenin as she was struggling with her knee. That was bad news for Osaka that besides losing the opportunity to win the event in Ohio, she was in danger of losing the world no.1 rank and now she is also in doubt about her participation to the US Open.

Why Naomi will stay no.1

Ashleigh Barty was 1 win from regaining her world no.1 spot. In fact, after reaching the semifinals in Ohio, she used to have 6501 “live” points while Naomi Osaka had 6606. That means that the Australian needed to beat the world no.153 Svetlana Kuznetsova to overtake the Japanese in the rankings with 6736 live points. That didn’t happen since the world no.2 lost 6-2 6-4 to the Russian.

Will Naomi Osaka stay no.1 after the US Open?

It’s rather implausible that the Japanese will stay at the top of the rankings after the last slam of the year since she has to defend 2000 points following her surprising 2018 title. Naomi has now a slim lead over Ashleigh (only 105 points). Therefore if she doesn’t win the US Open again, she has no chances to remain world no.1 after the Flushing Meadows. On the other side, Barty reached only the round of 16 (240pts) last year at the US Open, and that means that reaching the quarterfinals (430pts) would be enough for her to be back to no.1 even if Osaka wins the Opens.

Is it about Barty vs. Pliskova?

Pliskova will also fancy her chances as she has just 291 points less than Osaka, and last year she reached the quarters (430pts). If the Check has a deep run in New York, she’ll have an excellent opportunity to reach the top of the rankings.

NAOMI OSAKA
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