Island Idols Power Rankings: October 12

ATP Top Three

1. Roger Federer

It was a fortunate week for Roger Federer. After saving five match points against Leonardo Mayer in the second round, the Swiss Maestro played what was arguably his best match of the season against World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the semifinal. He didn’t play as well in the final, but the former No. 1 was able to overcome moments of adversity against Gilles Simon to capture the title in two tiebreaks. Federer has won the last two Masters Series 1000 events and now has a chance to claim the year end No. 1 ranking.

2. Gilles Simon

Gilles Simon had a superb week in Shanghai. Beating two Top 10 opponents in Stan Wawrinka and Tomas Berdych, Simon reached his first ATP Masters Series 1000 final since 2008. Simon had chances against Federer; in the first set, the Frenchman served for it at 5-4 and in the second set, he held two set points leading 6-5 on serve. Despite not being able to capitalize, Simon will reenter the top 20 and improve his chances of being selected to play in the Davis Cup Final against Switzerland in November.

3. Sam Querrey

Sam Querrey has been absolutely dominant on the Challenger circuit the last three weeks. The San Francisco native won his third consecutive Challenger in his home state of California. Picking up the crown in Tiburon this week, Querrey adds to the titles he racked up in Napa and Sacramento. Three weeks ago, the big serving American was ranked No. 54 in the world – he will move to No. 40 on Monday.

ATP Bottom Three

3. Stan Wawrinka

For the second consecutive week, Stan Wawrinka lost his first match of the tournament. Eventual finalist Gilles Simon was his conqueror this time around, but this will serve as no consolation to a man who won his first Grand Slam title this year. Barring a bizarre finish to the season, Wawrinka will qualify for the World Tour Finals, but he’ll need to get his act together if he wants to give himself a legitimate shot at winning in London.

2. Andy Murray

Andy Murray did not help his London chances after losing to David Ferrer in the Round of 16 in Shanghai. Murray currently stands at No. 10 in the Race Standings and appears ready to do anything in his power to obtain one of the last few spots in London. Even if Murray does end up qualifying, he may be too burnt out to produce anything of quality in London.

1. Fabio Fognini

Not only did Fabio Fognini lose to Chinese wildcard Wang Chuhan (ranked No. 553 in the world) in the first round of the Shanghai Masters, but he also decided to shove his opponent after they shook hands and give the middle finger to the crowd while walking off. It’s hard to put anything past Fognini, but this was extreme even for the typically irate Italian and the $2,000 fine he received seemed a bit low for such a serious offense.

WTA Top Three

1. Alison Riske

What a week for my fellow Pennsylvanian, Alison Riske. Riske not only won her first career WTA title this week in Tianjin, but she did so without dropping a set. Riske closed out her week by running straight through WTA Rising Star, Belinda Bencic, 6-3 6-4 in just under 80 minutes. Riske celebrated appropriately.

2. Karolina Pliskova

Karolina Pliskova has had a breakthrough year. The Czech No. 3 has reached five finals this year and won her second title of the season in Linz, beating the hard-hitting Italian Camila Giorgi in the final. Pliskova will ascend to No. 27 in the world and continues to solidify herself as one of the fastest risers on the WTA tour.

3. Sam Stosur

As the top seed in Osaka, Sam Stosur did exactly what she was supposed to do. Like Alison Riske in Tianjin, Stosur swept through the competition without losing a set. After a semifinal appearance in Beijing, Stosur appears to be ending her season on a very positive note.

WTA Bottom Three

3. Dominika Cibulkova

Dominika Cibulkova’s first round lost to Anna-Lena Freidsam is just the latest defeat in what has been a forgettable six months for the Australian Open finalist. Since reaching the final of Kuala Lumpur back in April, Cibulkova has only reached the quarterfinals of one event and will have a lot of heavy lifting to do next January as she attempts to defend her Australian Open points from this year.

2. Andrea Petkovic

A week after nearly beating Simona Halep and reaching the quarterfinals of the Premier Mandatory event in Beijing, Petkovic was ousted in the first round of the WTA International in Linz by Giorgi. The most shocking aspect of his match was not the fact that the German lost, but that she only won three games in a match that lasted little over an hour.

1. Jelena Jankovic

Jelena Jankovic entered Tianjin as the only player ranked inside the top 20. After winning her opening round match, Jankovic was shown the exit by World No. 112, 20-year-old Zheng SaiSai of China. Jankovic has now failed to make it past the Round of 16 in any of the three post-US Open tournaments she has played in.