[ColoradoTree]

Even after one day, this has been a nice net positive for the rankings of Arbuthnott and Gordon.  As for Arbuthnott, Lommer is #115 right now, but that'll improve on the strength of her run to the Midwest Regional title a couple of weeks ago, so beating her will help boost Arbuthnott.  And if she can can pull off the upset today over the 6th-seeded Jokic (another unranked freshman that will jump right near the top of the rankings on the strength of her fall season), she'll get an even bigger boost. 

As for Gordon, Kelly Chen (like Gordon) isn't ranked yet because she's a freshman, but guys, she's good.  I think she'll be Top 50, at least, when the first regular season rankings come out in January, so that ranking will in turn help Gordon's.  And Gordon's opponent today may be another unranked freshman, but she beat a Top 50 player yesterday, so she'll be ranked in due course. 

The real rankings gold would come from upsetting #1 Ena Shibahara in the Round of 16, if both Gordon and Shibahara can get there.  If Arbuthnott manages to win today, she could get the #13 player in the next round (R16), the #17 player the round after that (QF), and the #11 player the round after that.  It would be a highly improbable run, but if Arbuthnott played herself into the final, she'd likely be Top 10 in January herself.  And it could be even tougher, as the (1) and (3) seeds were upset in the first round, opening things up a bit on that half of the draw.  Gordon has had no such luck, as with a win today, she'd likely get #1 Shibahara (the 4 seed), then the #2 player (the 8 seed) in the quarterfinals, and then the #3 player (the 2 seed) in the semifinals.  Ouch. 

This tournament can have wide variances between a player's rank and seed, as it's the first tournament where the early results (i.e., limited data) are used, averaging the ranking with a player's Universal Tennis Rating (something that's supposed to be objective and results-based), so a great start to the fall can make the #15 player the top seed, as it did here, and a ho-hum fall can push a player's seed way down.  In case you find this interesting, here's the seed list, with the player's rank in parentheses:

1. Anna Danilina, Florida (#15)
2. Ashley Lahey, Pepperdine (#3)
3. Karla Popovic, Cal (#5)
4. Ena Shibahara, UCLA (#1)
5. Alle Sanford, UNC (#6 freshman)
6. Katarina Jokic, UGA (unranked freshman)
7. Sinead Lohan, Miami (#8)
8. Gabriela Talaba, Texas Tech (#2)
9. Estela Perez-Somarriba, Miami (#11)
10. Anastasia Rychagova, Kansas (#35)
11. Samantha Harris, Duke (#54)
12. Michaela Gordon, Stanford (#2 freshman)
13. Fernanda Contreras, Vanderbilt (#63)
14. Kate Fahey, Michigan (#6)
15. Mayer Sherif Ahmed, Pepperdine (#13)
16. Leolia Jeanjean, Arkansas (#62)

Of that group, only two seeds lost in the first round, (1) Danilina and (3) Popovic.  But the coolest thing is that it shows that Gordon is already seen as a Top 20 player, and a good run here will only push her January initial ranking higher. 

[ColoradoTree]

Even after one day, this has been a nice net positive for the rankings of Arbuthnott and Gordon.  As for Arbuthnott, Lommer is #115 right now, but that'll improve on the strength of her run to the Midwest Regional title a couple of weeks ago, so beating her will help boost Arbuthnott.  And if she can can pull off the upset today over the 6th-seeded Jokic (another unranked freshman that will jump right near the top of the rankings on the strength of her fall season), she'll get an even bigger boost. 

As for Gordon, Kelly Chen (like Gordon) isn't ranked yet because she's a freshman, but guys, she's good.  I think she'll be Top 50, at least, when the first regular season rankings come out in January, so that ranking will in turn help Gordon's.  And Gordon's opponent today may be another unranked freshman, but she beat a Top 50 player yesterday, so she'll be ranked in due course. 

The real rankings gold would come from upsetting #1 Ena Shibahara in the Round of 16, if both Gordon and Shibahara can get there.  If Arbuthnott manages to win today, she could get the #13 player in the next round (R16), the #17 player the round after that (QF), and the #11 player the round after that.  It would be a highly improbable run, but if Arbuthnott played herself into the final, she'd likely be Top 10 in January herself.  And it could be even tougher, as the (1) and (3) seeds were upset in the first round, opening things up a bit on that half of the draw.  Gordon has had no such luck, as with a win today, she'd likely get #1 Shibahara (the 4 seed), then the #2 player (the 8 seed) in the quarterfinals, and then the #3 player (the 2 seed) in the semifinals.  Ouch. 

This tournament can have wide variances between a player's rank and seed, as it's the first tournament where the early results (i.e., limited data) are used, averaging the ranking with a player's Universal Tennis Rating (something that's supposed to be objective and results-based), so a great start to the fall can make the #15 player the top seed, as it did here, and a ho-hum fall can push a player's seed way down.  In case you find this interesting, here's the seed list, with the player's rank in parentheses:

1. Anna Danilina, Florida (#15)
2. Ashley Lahey, Pepperdine (#3)
3. Karla Popovic, Cal (#5)
4. Ena Shibahara, UCLA (#1)
5. Alle Sanford, UNC (#6 freshman)
6. Katarina Jokic, UGA (unranked freshman)
7. Sinead Lohan, Miami (#8)
8. Gabriela Talaba, Texas Tech (#2)
9. Estela Perez-Somarriba, Miami (#11)
10. Anastasia Rychagova, Kansas (#35)
11. Samantha Harris, Duke (#54)
12. Michaela Gordon, Stanford (#2 freshman)
13. Fernanda Contreras, Vanderbilt (#63)
14. Kate Fahey, Michigan (#6)
15. Mayer Sherif Ahmed, Pepperdine (#13)
16. Leolia Jeanjean, Arkansas (#62)

Of that group, only two seeds lost in the first round, (1) Danilina and (3) Popovic.  But the coolest thing is that it shows that Gordon is already seen as a Top 20 player, and a good run here will only push her January initial ranking higher.