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The new ATP Tour rankings are definitely not nearly as eventful as those on the WTA side.
Still, 20-year-old Jannik Sinner moves into the top 10 for the first time, at a career-high No. 9, after reaching the Vienna final.
And Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime moves up one, to tie his career high of No. 11, after a quarterfinal effort.
But it’s a tough week for Vasek Pospisil, who drops out of the top 100 and for Denis Shapovalov.
The 22-year-old Shapovalov had Paris finalist’s points to defend this week. And since he withdrew from this year’s event, there’s no opportunity to earn them back.
For the complete, updated ATP Tour rankings, click here.
(* = Career high)
ON THE UPSWING
*Aslan Karatsev (RUS): No. 19 =======No. 16 (The 28-year-old’s breakout season continues, despite not being able to build on his Moscow title. He’s at a career high).
John Isner (USA): No. 26 =======No. 23 (Young rivals Reilly Opelka and St. Petersburg finalist Taylor Fritz both moved up. But despite being idle, Isner moves up three and continues to be the No. 1 American. That top three are separated by only 100 points, though).
Marin Cilic (CRO): No. 35 =======No. 28 (A great two weeks in Russia for Cilic, not unusual for him. The St. Petersburg title brings him back into the top 30 and should earn him a seed in Australia).
*Carlos Alcaraz (ESP): No. 42 =======No. 35 (The 18-year-old hits yet another career high after his semifinal in Vienna. And the field will be pleased if he can squeeze out a seed in Melbourne.
Frances Tiafoe (USA): No. 49 =======No. 41 (A great effort in toppling three seeds on his way to the Vienna final moves the 23-year-old American up nicely).
*Juan Manuel Cerundolo (ARG): No. 94 =======No. 85 (The 19-year-old from Argentina has gotten himself into the top 100 basically staying on clay all year, and mostly at the Challenger level. It’s a great effort. He reached the Lima Challenger final last week. But it’s a bit of a mirage; the real work is yet to come as he not only tries to make the transition to a full-time niche on the ATP Tour, but has to win on other surfaces to stay there).
Jérémy Chardy (FRA): No. 87 =======No. 105 (The 34-year-old veteran Frenchman hasn’t played since losing to Matteo Berrettini in the first round of the US Open, citing some effects of the COVID vaccination he had upon his return from the Olympics. His 2019 Paris points drop, and he’s on the bubble for the Australian Open qualifying).
Vasek Pospisil (CAN): No. 85 =======No. 113 (Pospisil’s 2020 Vienna points drop. And the 31-year-old Canadian didn’t attempt to make the qualifying there this year. He was main-draw only, and didn’t make it despite coming in with an older ranking of No. 68. He will try his luck at the Charlottesville Challenger this week, where he’s the top seed. He’ll have another 150 points from winning the Sofia ATP event last November to defend, as well as points from Paris Masters qualifying in 2019, and the Knoxville Challenger).
*Oscar Otte (GER): No. 135 =======No. 126 (Otte wins the Ismaning Challenger in his native Germany over Lukas Lacko in the final, and moves to a career high. His exploits at the majors this year have put his profile a little higher than you’d expect. But the ranking is slowly catching up).
Andy Murray (GBR): No. 156 =======No. 144 (A rankings step in the right direction after Vienna. Murray also has a wild card into the Paris Masters, where he had the misfortune of drawing arguably the toughest of the qualifiers, American Jenson Brooksby).
Joao Sousa (POR): No. 173 =======No. 150
J.J. Wolf (USA): No. 195 =======No. 159 (The American Mullet Man won the Las Vegas Challenger last week, defeating Americans in his last four rounds including Stefan Kozlov in the final).
Nicolas Jarry (CHI): No. 202 =======No. 162 (Making his way back from the doping suspension and the loss of ranking has been a long-term project, but the Chilean keeps rolling after winning the Challenger in Lima, Peru).
Stefan Kozlov (USA): No. 247 =======No. 224 (The former junior hotshot with the golden hands keeps plugging away, still just 23. He reached the Las Vegas Challenger final).
Alexis Galarneau (CAN): No. 336 =======No. 320 (The Quebecer reaches another career high as he’s grinding it out on the South American Challenger Tour. He’s in Guayaquil, Ecuador this week).
Kenny De Schepper (FRA): No.564 =======No. 501 (Ranked a career high No. 62 back in 2014, the big-serving French lefty, now 34, moves up after qualifying and reaching the second round of the Brest Challenger. and is still plugging away. He has played mostly in France, even going down to the 15K level, this year, which he began ranked No. 669).
*Luca Van Assche (FRA): No. 680 =======No. 518 (At the opposite end of the spectrum, 17-year-old Frenchman Van Assche, the Roland Garros junior champion, moves up 162 spots to a career high after making the quarterfinals of the Brest Challenger. He started the season tied for No. 1520, so he’s knocked 1,000 spots off his ranking. Van Assche tried his luck in the Paris Masters qualifying this weekend, but didn’t make a dent).
ON THE DOWNSWING
Dominic Thiem (AUT): No. 9 =======No. 12 (Thiem, who was defending some 2019 Vienna title points, drops out of the top for the first time since Oct. 2016. He hasn’t played since June, but the COVID-friendly rankings helped him out).
Denis Shapovalov (CAN): No. 13 =======No. 19 (Shapovalov was the defending finalist at the Paris Masters. But he withdrew from the tournament and won’t be able to make those points back this week).
Lorenzo Sonego (ITA): No. 23 =======No. 27 (Sonego has Dan Evans in the first round in Paris).
Grigor Dimitrov (BUL): No. 22 =======No. 30 (There have been signs of life from Dimitrov late this season. But his points from Vienna last year drop, and so does his ranking. Next up: defending 360 points from his run to the Paris Masters semifinals a year ago).
Kevin Anderson (RSA): No. 61 =======No. 76 (Anderson’s been having to qualify at the bigger events lately. But he was beaten by the diminutive Hugo Gaston in the Paris qualifying, so won’t have much a chance to earn back the points he’s just dropped from reaching the Vienna semifinals a year ago).
Emil Ruusuvuori (FIN): No. 72 =======No. 82 (The Finnish player reached the final of the ATP event in Nur-Sultan a year ago. And although he qualified in St. Petersburg last week, he lost in the first round).
Kyle Edmund (GBR): No. 115 =======No. 123 (That his ranking is still as high as it is considering he he hasn’t played for a full year, and has won just one match since the pandemic stopped play in March 2020, is a sign of the times).
Fernando Verdasco (ESP): No. 144 =======No. 165 (No matter what, Verdasco is keepin’ on this year. He and longtime friend Feliciano Lopez both entered the Tenerife Challenger this week as wild cards).
Steve Darcis (BEL): No. 348 =======No. 449 (You’d figure retired players would take their names off the rankings list, rather than see the slow tumble downward. But maybe Darcis isn’t looking).
The Canadians
Race to Turin
Race to Milan
It’s hard to picture Sinner playing both Milan and Turin, even if they’re both in his home country. Especially as this would be his first qualification for the ATP Tour Finals. But stranger things have happened.
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ATP Rankings Report – As of Nov. 18, 2024
WTA Rankings Report – As of Nov. 18, 2024
ATP Finals – Day 8 final results