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Normally, this would be a fairly big week for points dropping off.

But the Montreal points from 2019 dropped off before the tournament began.

And the Cincinnati points from 2020 won’t leave us until next week, because the tournament was moved into the US Open bubble and was held a week later than usual.

But the end of Cincinnati also marks the end of the points freeze, in the sense that the points from the 2019 Cincinnati tournament ALSO will drop next week.

At least, at the very top of the game where some 1,500 points currently separate Novak Djokovic and National Bank Open champion Daniil Medvedev, it’s a fair fight.

(For the complete ATP Tour rankings picture, click here)

ON THE UPSWING

Reilly Opelka (USA): No. 32 =========> No. 23 (Opelka hits a new career high at No. 23. And in so doing not only assures himself of a seed at the US Open, but eliminates the possibility of facing a top-eight seed in the third round, too. His run to the final at the National Bank Open in Toronto was impressive).

*(Photo by Tyler Anderson/Tennis Canada)*

John Isner (USA): No. 30 =========> No. 26 (The other tall man in US tennis reaches the semis in Toronto and assures himself of a comfortable seed. He looked a little limited by a back issue in the semis against Daniil Medvedev, so hopefully his 36-year-old bod will recover quickly for the next two events).

Lloyd Harris (RSA): No. 49 =========> No. 46 (The South African, who defeated Rafael Nadal in D.C., didn’t have to play him in Toronto as Nadal withdrew before their second-round match. He got Feliciano Lopez instead. And he probably should have beaten Opelka in the third round, but ended up falling in a third-set tiebreak. Still, he’s at a new career high).

James Duckworth (AUS): No. 85 =========> No. 69 (Another player hits a career as the 29-year-old Aussie qualified, got past a compromised Taylor Fritz, upset Jannik Sinner and then fell to Medvedev in Toronto).

Juan Manuel Cerundolo (ARG): No. 148 =========> No. 139 (the 19-year-old Argentine who shocked everyone down in South America earlier this year has slowly, surely, risen in the rankings. This week marks another career high, as he reached the final of the Meerbusch Challenger in Germany).

Holger Vitus Nodskov Rune (DEN): No. 191 =========> No. 162 (And … guess what? Another career high. The 18-year-old from Denmark won the Challenger in San Marino, over Orlando Luz in the final. After playing three hard-court ITFs at the beginning of the season, Rune has now played 17 consecutive events on clay. He also sneaks into the conversation for the Next-Gen Finals).

Marcelo Tomas Barrios Vera (CHI): No. 193 =========> No. 171 (The 23-year-old from Chile hit – you guessed it, it’s a theme – a career high after winning the Meerbusch Challenger).

Brayden Schnur (CAN): No. 247 =========> No. 233 (Schnur posted two solid wins in qualifying in Toronto to get his ranking going in the right direction once again. The problem is that he’s in the same boat as a lot of players; there’s absolutely nowhere to play this week if you’re not in the top 50, to prepare for the US Open qualies).

Dalibor Svrcina (CZE): No. 424 =========> No. 334 (The 18-year-old moves up 90 spots to a career high after winning the Prague Challenger in his home country. Svrcina got to No. 8 in the ITF juniors rankings more than two years ago, even though he kept playing up until last year).