Elina Svitolina lost in the fourth round of the 2017 US Open on Monday. The result is an interesting one for the Ukrainian player. She has absolutely no problems racking up titles in the regular tour events, but when it comes to Grand Slams, she has not yet made a semifinal in her career. This is despite having a high seed in a lot of majors in recent seasons. On Monday Svitolina fell to Madison Keys in a three-set match, a result that concludes Svitolina's Grand Slam season in 2017. The result is also one that affects Garbine Muguruza's chances when it comes to getting to the World No.
1 ranking next Monday.
Muguruza must be scoreboard watching
The Spaniard currently sits in the top spot when one goes by live rankings. When the official rankings update next Monday, she might still be there. Svitolina was one of the players that could have spoiled Muguruza getting to No. 1, but she needed to make the semifinals in New York this week. Now the only player that can prevent Muguruza from taking the top spot this time next week is the current World No. 1, Karolina Pliskova. The Czech player advanced to the quarterfinals with a nice win over Jennifer Brady on Monday. If Pliskova makes the final, then she will remain No. 1. If she falls in the quarters or the semifinals, then Muguruza will be No.
1. There are no other scenarios at this point.
Pliskova controls fate
Pliskova's chances of making the final at Flushing Meadows have to be considered fair at this point. She's playing well as she demolished Brady to the loss of only one game. Next up is Coco Vandeweghe and then either Madison Keys or Kaia Kanepi. There's certainly not a bad player in that small group, but Pliskova is the most dangerous.
Of the four players in her half of the draw, the Czech player is the one that is more proven in the big-time matches. She's the only one to have advanced to a Grand Slam final at this point among the four players.
The World No. 1 ranking has been a tournament subplot in Flushing Meadows since the tournament began. At that point, eight players were in the mix, but most of those original eight are gone.
Venus Williams is still alive in the tournament, but she needed Muguruza to falter earlier than she did to have any shot at getting back to the top of the women's rankings. What is largely playing in the Spaniard's favor right now is her title from Wimbledon and the fact that the other Grand Slam champions this season are either on maternity leave (Serena Williams) or not playing well on all surfaces (Jelena Ostapenko).
