Carlos Alcaraz’s Wimbledon Trophy Keeps Him at No. 1. Marketa Vondrousova’s Lifts Her to No. 10 

Spain's Carlos Alcaraz celebrates with the trophy after beating Serbia's Novak Djokovic to win the final of the men's singles on day fourteen of the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, Sunday, July 16, 2023. (AP)
Spain's Carlos Alcaraz celebrates with the trophy after beating Serbia's Novak Djokovic to win the final of the men's singles on day fourteen of the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, Sunday, July 16, 2023. (AP)
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Carlos Alcaraz’s Wimbledon Trophy Keeps Him at No. 1. Marketa Vondrousova’s Lifts Her to No. 10 

Spain's Carlos Alcaraz celebrates with the trophy after beating Serbia's Novak Djokovic to win the final of the men's singles on day fourteen of the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, Sunday, July 16, 2023. (AP)
Spain's Carlos Alcaraz celebrates with the trophy after beating Serbia's Novak Djokovic to win the final of the men's singles on day fourteen of the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, Sunday, July 16, 2023. (AP)

Carlos Alcaraz held onto No. 1 in the ATP rankings on Monday by virtue of his victory over No. 2 Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final, and Marketa Vondrousova's first Grand Slam title pushed her all the way up to a career-high No. 10 on the WTA list.

Vondrousova jumped 32 places from No. 42 thanks to her 6-4, 6-4 win against Ons Jabeur in Saturday’s final at the All England Club. Vondrousova, a 24-year-old from the Czech Republic, was the lowest-ranked and first unseeded women's champion at the grass-court major.

Alcaraz's 1-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 defeat of Djokovic on Sunday marked the third time in the past four major tournaments that the men's title match determined who would be at No. 1.

At last September's US Open, Alcaraz became the first teenager to lead the ATP by beating Casper Ruud in the final. At January's Australian Open, it was Djokovic — who has spent more weeks atop the rankings than anyone in tennis history — who assured himself of being at No. 1 by defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Alcaraz, a Spaniard who turned 20 in May, and Djokovic, a 36-year-old from Serbia, have been trading the highest spot this season. Alcaraz now enters his 29th week there.

“He’s proven that he’s the best player in the world, no doubt,” said Djokovic, who had won four consecutive titles at Wimbledon and was seeking a 24th Grand Slam trophy overall.

Iga Swiatek could have relinquished her 15-month hold on the WTA's No. 1 ranking to No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka at Wimbledon but remained there Monday.

Swiatek lost in the quarterfinals; Sabalenka lost in the semifinals.

The top seven slots in the women's rankings stayed the same Monday, with 2022 Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina remaining at No. 3, followed by Jessica Pegula, Caroline Garcia, Jabeur and Coco Gauff.

Elina Svitolina, who made it all the way to the semifinals just three months after returning to the tour from maternity leave, rose 49 places from No. 76 to No. 27.

The big mover in the men's rankings was Chris Eubanks, a 27-year-old from Atlanta who played college tennis at Georgia Tech. His run at the All England Club allowed Eubanks to go from a career-high No. 43 to a new personal best of No. 31.

Making his Wimbledon debut, Eubanks eliminated No. 5 seed Tsitsipas and No. 12 seed Cam Norrie on the way to his first major quarterfinal before losing to No. 3 Daniil Medvedev.

There were no changes among the first 13 ATP ranking spots.



Palace's Mateta Denies Arsenal Win to Leave Liverpool on Brink of Title

Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal v Crystal Palace - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - April 23, 2025 Arsenal's David Raya in action with Crystal Palace's Justin Devenny REUTERS/Tony O Brien
Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal v Crystal Palace - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - April 23, 2025 Arsenal's David Raya in action with Crystal Palace's Justin Devenny REUTERS/Tony O Brien
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Palace's Mateta Denies Arsenal Win to Leave Liverpool on Brink of Title

Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal v Crystal Palace - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - April 23, 2025 Arsenal's David Raya in action with Crystal Palace's Justin Devenny REUTERS/Tony O Brien
Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal v Crystal Palace - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - April 23, 2025 Arsenal's David Raya in action with Crystal Palace's Justin Devenny REUTERS/Tony O Brien

Arsenal kept Liverpool's Premier League title-winning champagne on ice, but only just, as they were twice pegged back at home by Crystal Palace with Jean-Philippe Mateta scoring a superb equaliser in a 2-2 draw on Wednesday.

First-half goals by Jakub Kiwior and Leandro Trossard looked like being enough for a lacklustre Arsenal against a lively Palace side who equalized with an Eberechi Eze volley.

But there was a late twist as Palace substitute Mateta beat Arsenal keeper David Raya with an audacious chip.

The draw left second-placed Arsenal on 67 points with four games remaining meaning they can only match the 79 of Liverpool who still have five games to play, Reuters reported.

Had Arsenal lost, Liverpool would have won the title on Wednesday but they can now seal it with one point against Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield on Sunday.

"When I started on the bench I could see he (David Raya) was very high up the pitch," Mateta, who was voted man-of-the-match by Sky Sports despite coming on in the 80th minute, said.

"So I knew if I won the ball I could try, so I did and scored. It is one of the best goals of my career. I thought it hit the crossbar but thankfully it was in!"

Both Arsenal and Palace have huge cup semi-final games looming -- Arsenal in the Champions League at home to Paris St Germain next Tuesday and Palace this Saturday at Wembley against Aston Villa in the FA Cup.

Twelfth-placed Palace could have been excused if they were distracted by what will be the biggest game of their season.

Instead, it was Arsenal who were off the pace as they drew for the 13th time in the league this season and fifth time in eight -- a statistic that has allowed Liverpool to all but mathematically wrap up a record-equalling 20th English title.

"We are disappointed with the result and performance. We didn't find enough consistency in actions to dominate the game. It's part of football and cost us two points," Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said.

"In many aspects of the game we should have done better today. We have the most important game of the season in six days. We need to get our energy back."

This traditional sport is taking the spotlight in Madagascar’s capital of Antananarivo.

Palace, who left key players Mateta and Ismaila Sarr on the bench but still fielded Eze, will have taken great heart from their display as they prepare for Villa on Saturday.

Eze took his goal brilliantly, connecting with Adam Wharton's corner to bounce a volley in off the post beyond Raya.

But the best was saved to last as Mateta, still wearing the protective covering on his ear badly gashed in the FA Cup fifth round tie against Millwall, lofted a sensational shot over Raya after a bad ball from William Saliba had put Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard in trouble.

Arsenal, who fielded a near full-strength line-up despite Bukayo Saka being on the bench, made a great start as Kiwior rose to thump a header past Dean Henderson after three minutes from Odegaard's free kick.

Trossard then restored their lead when he controlled Jurrien Timber's pass and turned sharply to send a low shot inside the post.

Arsenal had a Gabriel Martinelli goal ruled out by VAR after the ball went out of play in the build-up while Henderson also made a splendid save to deny Saka's volley.

But Palace fully deserved their point and could have got all three as Mateta's late cross almost led to a winner.

"It's important to keep this energy and confidence for the semi-final on Saturday," Palace boss Oliver Glasner said.