Serena Williams set to drop out of top 200 in the world rankings at the conclusion of the 2022 Australian Open
Serena Williams has not completed a tour-level match since the 2021 Roland Garros, where she lost her fourth-round encounter to Ukrainian youngster Elena Rybakina.
Williams' continued absence from the tour has begun to take a toll on her world ranking as she currently finds herself at a lowly No. 59. She fell 12 places on the updated list released today after dropping a bunch of points earned at the 2020 ASB Classic.
Williams is staring at another slip down the rankings, given that players are set to drop the points earned at the 2021 Australian Open. The 23-time Grand Slam winner reached the semifinals of the tournament before losing out to eventual champion Naomi Osaka.
Williams' run at Melbourne Park was her best showing at a Grand Slam event last season, but the American's recent injury troubles mean she will be unable to defend her ranking points this year.
The American, who currently has a total of 1,061 ranking points, is now set to drop all 780 ranking points she earned with the semifinal showing. This would result in her slipping a massive 185 spots in the rankings, all the way down to No. 244.
The last time Williams was ranked outside the top 100 was way back in July 2011, when she slipped to No. 175 ahead of the Wimbledon Championships.
The American's older sister Venus Williams has also witnessed a sharp decline in her rankings and currently sits at No. 391. She is also expected to slip around 70 places when the rankings are updated after the conclusion of the 2022 Australian Open.
Naomi Osaka and Sofia Kenin also stand to lose a fair bit after Australian Open
The winners of the last two editions of the Australian Open -- Naomi Osaka and Sofia Kenin -- also stand to lose a fair bit this week in terms of their world rankings.
Currently ranked No. 14, defending champion Naomi Osaka will need to produce a strong performance at this year's tournament to avoid a slip in the rankings.
The Japanese won her first-round encounter against Camila Osorio Serrano, but could still lose as many as 1,930 ranking points, which would see her drop all way down to No. 93 in the rankings.
Kenin's first-round loss to fellow American Madison Keys, meanwhile, means that the 23-year-old -- currently ranked No. 13 -- will fall out of the top 90 in the rankings.
Kenin carried the 2,000 ranking points earned during the 2020 Australian Open under the frozen ranking system, which was put in place during the pandemic-affected 2020 season. She will, however, no longer have the luxury of holding on to the points and could find herself on the brink of exiting the top 100.