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Pegula, Gauff 1st 2 US women in Top 4 since Serena, Venus

Posted October 24, 2022 7:00 am

By HOWARD FENDRICH

Jessica Pegula, of the United States, reacts after defeating Maria Sakkari, of Greece, to win the WTA tennis tournament final match in Guadalajara, Mexico, Sunday, Oct. 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Refugio Ruiz) The Associated Press

Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff are the first pair of U.S. women both in the top four spots of the WTA rankings since sisters Serena and Venus Williams were up there a dozen years ago.

Pegula rose two places to a career-best No. 3 on Monday, a day after winning the biggest title of her career at the Guadalajara Open in Mexico.

Gauff, who lost in the quarterfinals at that tournament, moved up from No. 7 to No. 4.

The last time two Americans were that high in the women's tennis rankings was the week of Oct. 18, 2010, when Serena Williams was No. 2 and Venus Williams was No. 4. Both of the siblings already had been No. 1 prior to that.

Pegula is a 28-year-old from New York; her parents own the NFL's Buffalo Bills and NHL's Buffalo Sabres. She reached the quarterfinals at three of this year's four Grand Slam tournaments before losing to the eventual champion and No. 1 seed each time: Ash Barty at the Australian Open, and Iga Swiatek at the French Open and U.S. Open.

Gauff is an 18-year-old from Florida who was the runner-up to Swiatek at Roland Garros and made it to the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open.

The two of them are doubles partners and in the top four in that discipline, too: Gauff is ranked No. 2, Pegula No. 3.

Swiatek maintained her hold on No. 1 in the singles rankings Monday, followed by No. 2 Ons Jabeur, who was the runner-up at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

In addition to that quartet atop the rankings, the other four women who qualified in singles for the WTA Finals, which are in Fort Worth, Texas, from Oct. 31 to Nov. 7 are Caroline Garcia, Aryna Sabalenka, Daria Kasatkina and Maria Sakkari.

There were no changes in the top eight places in the ATP men's rankings, with Carlos Alcaraz retaining the No. 1 spot he earned by winning his first Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open last month.

He's followed by 23-time major champion Rafael Nadal at No. 2, with Nos. 3-8 still Casper Ruud, Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev, Novak Djokovic and Andrey Rublev.

Felix Auger-Aliassime's title at Antwerp, Belgium, on Sunday - his second trophy in a row - allowed him to move up from No. 10 to No. 9, swapping places with Taylor Fritz.

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Jessica Pegula, of the United States, kisses with trophy after winning the final tennis match of the WTA tennis tournament against Maria Sakkari, of Greece, in Guadalajara, Mexico, Sunday, Oct. 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Refugio Ruiz) The Associated Press

Coco Gauff, left, embraces teammate Jessica Pegula after defeating Gabriela Dabrowski, of Canada, and Giuliana Olmos, of Mexico, in the double's final at the San Diego Open tennis tournament Sunday, Oct. 16, 2022, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull) The Associated Press

Iga Swiatek, of Poland, returns to Donna Vekic, of Croatia, during the final match at the San Diego Open tennis tournament Sunday, Oct. 16, 2022, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull) The Associated Press

Spain's Carlos Alcaraz returns the ball to Britain's Jack Draper during their first round match at the Swiss Indoors tennis tournament at the St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland, Monday Oct. 24, 2022. (Georgios Kefalas/Keystone via AP) The Associated Press

Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime reacts after winning the men's singles final against United States Sebastian Korda at the European Open tennis tournament in Antwerp, Belgium, Sunday, Oct. 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Olivier Matthys) The Associated Press

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