King On The Verge Of Top Ten In September WISPA Rankings
by Elliot Selby
September2, 2011 - New Zealand number one Joelle King moves up to a career high of 11 in the new September rankings published today. The 22 year old was outside the top 20 last year but a strong season of results, including a quarter final place at last month’s Australian Open, has pushed the Kiwi closer to a place in the world’s top 10. With few ranking points to defend in the next few months, King is bound to go higher, how high is the question though.
Inside the top 10, Rachael Grinham leapfrogs Madeline Perry to return to the top 3. Two 34 year olds in the top 4 is testament to their talent but also shows that pro squash players are able to play at the highest level for longer than in the past. Incredibly Grinham has been inside the world’s top five for over 8 years, debuting back in February 2003.
French number one Camille Serme also records a career high. The 22 year old moves up one place to 7 to equal her highest ranking from October 2010.
Natalie Grinham returns to her highest ranking in exactly a year as she moves up two places to 13. The younger Grinham upset Kasey Brown in the second round in Australia to reach the quarter finals where she really tested world number two Jenny Duncalf.
Mexican star Samantha Teran climbs 4 places to number 16. In May the 30 year old fell to her lowest ranking since January 2008 but since then she has found the form that saw her go as high as 11 last year. In August she claimed her 14th WISPA title in Vancouver, breezing past top seed Jaclyn Hawkes in the final.
Anyone looking at the top twenty will see a significant name missing this month. Alison Waters has suffered with an ankle injury since the Commonwealth Games a year ago, where she had to concede her bronze medal match. The England star reached a career high of 3 last year but now finds herself at 21, her first time out of the top twenty for over six years. Waters will hopefully return to the tour later this year.
Outside the top twenty there were big changes in the rankings and this month saw 18 players record career high rankings, all making significant improvements from 2010. They are as follows:
Victoria Lust moves up to 32, cutting her ranking by a half from this time last year. Swiss no.1 Gaby Huber rises to 37, up from 71 at this time in 2010. Czech no.1 Lucie Fialova rises to 39, up from 58 in 2010. England junior Emily Whitlock up to 42, she was outside the top 100 in November 2010. Canadian no.1 Miranda Ranieri rises to 44 and Canadian no.2 Samantha Cornett makes her top 50 debut at 49, she has been in five WISPA finals this year. Siyoli Waters moves one place to 51 and becomes South Africa’s highest ranked player. German no.1 Sina Wall moves to 52, she was ranked down at 90 this time last year.
There were also career highs for Netherlands’ Milou Van Der Hiejden at 56, Mexican pair Nayelly Hernandez and Ivonne Diaz at 58 and 64 respectively, South American no.1 Thaisa Serafini at 60, France’s Coline Aumard at 61, Amanda Landers-Murphy at 62, Korean no.1 Ahn Eun Chan at 66, Canada’s Stephanie Edmison at 67, Scottish no.1 Lisa Aitken at 69 and Australia’s Maggy Marshall at 75.
September sees the start of a busy few months for all the girls on the tour. There are several tournaments in the USA, with the top players taking centre stage at the Carol Weymuller Open. There are also tournaments in Australia and Egypt.
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