Bethanie Mattek-Sands doing her best Lady Gaga impersonation
Both the ATP and WTA released updated rankings on Monday, and the results are a bit surprising. Not only is Minnesota home to the top-ranked men’s player in the U.S., but it is also home to the top-ranked women’s player in the U.S. as well. It may mark the first time ever that Minnesotans have held both positions at the same time.
Edina native Mardy Fish and Rochester native Bethanie Mattek-Sands are atop the U.S. rankings following Wimbledon this past weekend. If you’re into Tennis Betting, you better get yours bets in on them while this lasts.
Fish entered Wimbledon ranked #9 in the world—just a spot ahead of fellow American Andy Roddick—and actually moved up a spot after playing well and advancing to the quarterfinals, where he lost to the #1 player in the world, Rafael Nadal, 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.
Mattek-Sands, on the other hand, entered Wimbledon ranked #31 in the world—a spot behind fellow American Venus Williams, and six spots behind her sister, Serena. And despite losing to Misaki Doi of Japan 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 in the tournament’s opening round, she managed to leap frog the Williams sisters as a result of their own less-than-stellar performances. Venus fell from 30th to 34th in the rankings, and Serena fell from 25th to 175th. The end result is that Mattek-Sands is the first American not named Williams to be the top-ranked U.S. women’s tennis player since Lindsey Davenport in 2007.
In comparing the two, Fish probably has the more distinguished resume: over $5 million in career prize money, 5 singles titles, 3 Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances (singles), and a silver medal at the 2004 Olympics. But Mattek-Sands has done well herself too, winning over $2 million in career prize money and notching 9 doubles titles under her belt. Plus, she clearly has the more flamboyant reputation, as evidenced by her nickname (“The Lady Gaga of Tennis”) and choice of outfits.
Regardless, Minnesota should enjoy this. It could be the last time in the history of histories that we hold the top spots in both men’s and women’s tennis at the same time.
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