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With his triumph of determination Sunday in Barcelona against Stefanos Tsitsipas, Rafael Nadal regains the No. 2 ranking over the idle Daniil Medvedev.

He had spent five weeks at No. 3, after being at No. 2 since Jan. 2020.

It may be a short-lived stay, if Mededev (not a lover of the messy surface, it must be said) does anything significant through Madrid and Rome.

Nadal’s semifinalist’s points from 2019 Madrid are safe until 2022. But half his points from his title in Rome last September will drop off when this year’s edition – held in its usual slot – comes up in a few weeks.

For the complete ATP rankings picture, click here.

ON THE UPSWING

Rafael Nadal (ESP): No. 3 ===========> No. 2 (Nadal wins his 12th title in Barcelona and if the ballkids couldn’t follow him into the club swimming pool this year, as is custom, at least he went in himself).

Pablo Carreño Busta (ESP): No. 13 ===========> No. 12

Jannik Sinner (ITA): No. 19 ===========> No. 18 (Sinner’s effort in Barcelona moves him up one spot, less than 100 points away from No. 16. He drops idle Canadian Milos Raonic to No. 19).

Aslan Karatsev (RUS): No. 28 ===========> No. 27 (Karatsev moves up one more spot, and showed evidence of grit when, after his 3h26 marathon against Novak Djokovic Saturday night, he overcame a slow start and took eventual Belgrade champion Matteo Berrettini to a third-set tiebreak in the final Sunday).

*Karatsev upset No. 1 Novak Djokovic in he Belgrade semis, but fell to Matteo Berrettini in the final. (TennisTV).*

John Millman (AUS): No. 43===========> No. 40

Cameron Norrie (GBR): No. 58 ===========> No. 50 (The British lefty is back in the top 50 after a surprising run in Barcelona).

Gianluca Mager (ITA): No. 98 ===========> No. 91

Taro Daniel (JPN): No. 126 ===========> No. 112 (The Japanese lucky loser went all the way to the Belgrade semifinals).

Bernabe Zapata Miralles (ESP): No. 147 ===========> No. 133 (The fairly obscure 24-year-old reaches a career high after qualifying and reaching the third round in Barcelona).

*Will Hugo Gaston be able to recreate his 2020 Roland Garros magic in June? We’ll see. (FranceTV)*

Hugo Gaston (FRA): No. 158 ===========> No. 147 (the crafty 20-year-old French lefty rises to a career high after reaching the final of a Challenger in Rome).

Jenson Brooksby (USA): No. 194 ===========> No. 166 (The 20-year-old American is 23-4 on the season after winning back-to-back Challengers in the U.S. – in Orlando two weeks ago and in Tallahassee (on Har-Tru) last week. He began the season ranked No. 314 and playing a 25K ITF in Spain).

*Brooksby at the 2018 US Open (left) and a year later, when he qualified and upset Tomas Berdych in the first round.*

Bjorn Fratangelo (USA): No. 221 ===========> No. 194 (After missing nearly a year because of injury, the 27-year-old American has worked his way. back into the top 200 by reaching the final of the Tallahassee Challenger).

Nicolas Jarry (CHI): No. 632===========> No. 507 (Working his way back from an *infinity* ranking after serving a doping suspension, the 25-year-old moves up 125 spots after making the quarterfinals of a Challenger in Ecuador. When you’re down there, winning matches at the Challenger level will move you up quickly).

ON THE DOWNSWING

Daniil Medvedev (RUS): No. 2 ===========> No. 3 (We’ll see what Medvedev can do in Madrid and Rome, in a quest to get the No. 2 ranking back).

Filip Krajinovic (SRB): No. 33 ===========> No. 36 (The Serb will have to do a little work if he wants to be seeded in Paris. But it’s super tight in that section of the rankings and they may bounce that back and forth for a few weeks).

Jan-Lennard Struff (GER): No. 40 ===========> No. 44

Guido Pella (ARG): No. 50 ===========> No. 55

Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA): No. 78 ===========> No. 86