Triumphant Osaka, Del Potro rocket up rankings

SURPRISE Indian Wells winner Naomi Osaka leaped 22 places in the WTA world rankings released yesterday while Jelena Ostapenko burst into the top five for the first time.

Japan’s Osaka, 20, moved from 44th spot to 22nd after defeating Russian Daria Kasatkina 6-3, 6-2 in Sunday’s final at the BNP Paribas Open in the California desert.

Latvia’s Ostapenko, also 20, moved up a place to fifth as Czech Karolina Pliskova, beaten in the Indian Wells quarterfinals by Osaka, slipped to sixth.

Romania’s Simona Halep retained top spot despite her elimination in the semifinals in California.

Meanwhile, former US Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro climbed two places to sixth in the ATP rankings released yesterday after beating Roger Federer in the Indian Wells final.

The 29-year-old Argentine handed Federer his first defeat of 2018 with a 6-4, 6-7 (8), 7-6 (2) victory on Sunday, extending his own win streak to 11 matches, including a title run earlier this month at Acapulco.

Swiss maestro Federer himself reclaimed top spot just a month ago and remains marginally ahead of his eternal Spanish rival Rafael Nadal, who missed the American tournament with a leg injury.

Del Potro and Osaka each earned US$1.3 million.