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ROLAND GARROS – Late yesterday afternoon, a couple of fellow were practicing together at Roland Garros.
They were Cameron Norrie and Casper Ruud, a couple of late arrivals to the site after each winning an ATP 250 on Saturday.
Norrie won in Lyon, and Ruud went through a major tussle before disposing of Joao Sousa and winning in Geneva.
There is no chance in the top 15 – only Daniil Medvedev, Ruud and Norrie were in action – with Ruud having defending his title, he made no progress but remains just five points behind Andrey Rublev at No. 7.For the full, updated ATP Tour rankings for today, click here.
ON THE UPSWING
Alex Molcan (SVK): No. 47 ========> No. 38 (Another career high for the 24-year-old, who now has longtime DJokovic coach Marian Vajda in his corner as he makes a push. He’s pulled out of the RG doubles, and faces a tough opening task Monday (weather permitting) against Federico Coria).
Tallon Griekspoor (NED): No. 64 ========> No. 58 (Griekspoor picked up right where he left off last week, when he reached another career high in making the quarterfinals in Geneva, bu upsetting the in-form Alejandro Davidovich Fokina to open his Roland Garros).
Joao Sousa (POR): No. 79========> No. 63 (Sousa’s ranking had dropped to the point where he had to sit and wait as the Djokovic situation was decided in Australia, to determine whether he’d have to play the qualifying. He did. But things have improved and the 33-year-old not only is straight into the main draw in Paris, but was a figurative coin flip away from winning Genera vs Ruud Saturday. It wasn’t a great clay season before that – so that saves it).
Richard Gasquet (FRA): No. 75 ========> No. 70 (Gasquet showed some vintage form in Geneva last week, notably over Medvedev. What must be be thinking with two of his French contemporaries playing their final Roland Garros this week (and needing wild cards) and the fourth, Gaël Monfils, out with yet another injury?)
Roberto Carballes Baena (ESP): No. 102 ========> No. 89 (The 29-year-old Spaniard won a Challenger in Tunisia last week)
Manuel Guinard (FRA): No. 158 ========> No. 146 (Guinard is one of a handful of French players in their mid-20s who are playing their best tennis, at this age. The 6-6 giant gets into the top 150 for the first time, and a career high, after he qualifies and makes the quarterfinals in Lyon. Took Holger Rune to three sets before losing, and that was his fourth three-setter in a row).
Robin Haase (NED): No. 324 ========> No. 265 (The 35-year-old is still trucking along, but ranked too low at this point to try the qualifying last week. So he got himself to Kazakhstan and reached the final of a Challenger there).
Alexis Galarneau (CAN): No. 309 ========> No. 288 (Inside the top 300 for the first time after a semifinal effort at the Francaville al Mare Challenger. He got into this week’s Challenger as an alternate, too, so can continue to ride the wave).
Francesco Maestrelli (ITA): No. 512 ========> No. 403 (Yup, another Italian teenager making his way up the rankings, as he reached the final at the Francavilla Challenger).
Sergey Fomin (UZB): No. 838 ========> No. 404 (When you cut your ranking by more than half in a week, one this is true: that was a pretty low ranking to begin with. But Fomin, 21, went from the qualifying all the way to the title at the Shymkent Challenger in his homeland last week. Needless to say – a career high).
ON THE DOWNSWING
Laslo Djere (SRB): No. 51 ========> No. 56 (Djere made the quarters a year ago in Genera, defeating Fabio Fognini before losing to Shapovalov).
Lorenzo Musetti (ITA): No. 57 ========> No. 66 (Musetti made the semis in Lyon a year ago, upsetting Félix Auger-Aliassime in the first round and also beating Korda and Bedene before losing to Tsitsipas in three sets. He retired in Rome and didn’t play last week, and so couldn’t defend his points. He also has fourth-round points to defend in Paris from the DRAMATIC match vs Djokovic a year ago in which he won the first two sets in tiebreaks, and then broke physically, ending up retiring down 0-4 in the fifth set. Musetti hasn’t produced the same kind of tennis in 2022 as he did in 2021. At least not so far).
Benoit Paire (FRA): No. 67 ========> No. 78 (On the positive side – Paire WON A MATCH!. He defeated the very solid Emil Ruusuvuori in the first round of Geneva, reversing a long losing streak at the ATP main draw level. On the other hand, he drops 105 points from somewhere – it wasn’t last year, when he lost first round in Geneva, but probably 2019 somehow – and 11 spots in the rankings).
Pablo Andujar (ESP): No. 83 ========> No. 98 (The 36-year-old was defending a Geneva semifinal (which included a second-round win over Roger Federer that was kind of a big deal at the time. Gosh – have we forgotten that? Feels like a century ago. He lost his opener in Geneva this year (his fourth straight opening loss during the clay season).
Taro Daniel (JPN): No. 105 ========> No. 115 (No sooner did Daniel get achingly close to the top 100 again – close enough to not have to go through Slam qualifying again – he drops back down a little. But that main-draw spot was given up Sunday, when he lost a roller-coaster of a five-setter to French wild card Grégoire Barrere)
Pablo Cuevas (URU): No. 118 ========> No. 149 (The 36-year-old lost in qualifying in Geneva, after qualifying and going all the way to the semifinals a year ago. He responded very well do this – going out in Paris Sunday and THRASHING No. 31 seed Jenson Brooksby 6-2, 6-1, 6-2 in the first round of Roland Garros).
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA): No. 267 ========> No. 297 (Rankings more orless irrelevant as Tsonga prepares for his finale at Roland Garros.
Steven Diez (CAN): No. 281 ========> No. 305 (Out of the top 300 again as he loses points from his second-round qualifying effort a year ago in Paris. His ranking was basically too low to try to do it again this year).
Juan Martin del Potro (ARG): No. 762 ========> No. 765 (Only a few more weeks with del Potro in the rankings list, as 23 points from his third round at Queen’s Club back in 2019 remain on the computer. Crazy, but true).
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