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With the top players in the world either playing Laver Cup, resting after Davis Cup or taking a break, there were some smaller events in play on the ATP Tour in Metz and San Diego.

In southern Cal, two So-Cal fellas made the final in San Diego native Brandon Nakashima (right at home), and Thousand Oaks, Calif. native Marcos Giron.

Nakashima wins his first career ATP Tour title – a moment he’ll never forget.

And his moving into the top 50 means that the U.S. has NINE players in this week’s top 50. Maybe they don’t have that next major champion. But who’s to argue that having that kind of depth and production isn’t a serious silver lining?

WTA Rankings Report – As of Sept. 26, 2022

The tournament didn’t have anywhere near the field it had in its first incarnation last year, when it fell the week before the rescheduled Indian Wells on the schedule.

Still, a good opportunity to earn points for many of the players who took part in both, as well as a number of Challengers around the world.

(For the complete, updated ATP Tour rankings, click here).

ON THE UPSWING

Jannik Sinner (ITA): No. 11 ==========> No. 10 (Sinner is back in the top after Hubert Hurkacz drops some points, even though he was idle last week. He’s back in action this week).

Alexander Bublik (KAZ): No. 44 ==========> No. 41 (A final in Metz moves Bublik up three).

Sebastian Korda (USA): No. 49 ==========> No. 44 (Korda, who has been fairly quiet ot late, moves up five after making the Metz quarterfinals)

Lorenzo Sonego (ITA): No. 65 ==========> No. 45 (Sonego, whose career high of No. 21 came in April 21, makes a nice move up in the rankings even though he came into Metz with an 18-24 record on the season. He won it).

Jenson Brooksby (USA): No. 50 ==========> No. 46 (Brooksby was the No. 2 seed in San Diego, but fell to Christopher O’Connell in the quarterfinals).

Brandon Nakashima (USA): No. 69 ==========> No. 48 (Nakashima, just 21, jumps into the top 50 again and gets to a new career best after winning his hometown event in San Diego. What a moment).

Marcos Giron (USA): No. 58 ==========> No. 53 (Giron, 12-24 on the season coming into San Diego, reaches the final).

*San Diego was the first career ATP Tour final for Giron, at age 29)*

Jordan Thompson (AUS): No. 98 ==========> No. 85 (Thompson won the Columbus Challenger last week. He gets Canadian Alexis Galarneau in the first round of the Charleston Challenger this week).

Nicolas Kicker (ARG): No. 234 ==========> No. 183 (The 30-year-old, still on the comeback trail after a suspension for match fixing, wins the Villa Maria Challenger in Argentina. It’s his best ranking since the beginning of 2019).

Stan Wawrinka (SUI): No. 284 ==========> No. 193 (It’s been a long comeback for the 37-year-old, who defeated Daniil Medvedev in Metz after coming out of the qualifying, but retired after just a few games against Bublik in the semifinal).

Gabriel Diallo (CAN): No. 335==========> No. 318 (The tall 20-year-old Montrealer reaches another career high after making the quarterfinals at the Columbus Challenger).

Steven Diez (CAN): No. 398==========> No. 375 (Diez moves up some after winning a round at the Sibiu Challenger. He has dropped down to a $15,000 ITF in Spain this week).

ON THE DOWNSWING

Hubert Hurkacz (POL): No. 10 ==========> No. 11 (Hurkacz drops out of the top 10 after making the semifinals in Metz. A year ago, Hurkacz won Metz).

Ilya Ivashka (BLR): No. 59==========> No. 71 (Ivashka was idle last week, dropping his points from making the semis of a tournament in Nur-Sultan a year ago).

Jiri Lehecka (CZE): No. 63 ==========> No. 74 (Lehecka was out in the first round of Metz this year, dropping the points he earned from winning a Challenger in Bucharest a year ago.

James Duckworth (AUS): No. 83==========> No. 101 (Duckworth drops out of the top 100 after losing to Marcos Giron in the San Diego quarterfinals. A year ago, he moved up to No. 56 in the rankings after making the final of the ATP 250 in Nur-Sultan).

Soonwoo Kwon (KOR): No. 74 ==========> No. 121 (After a busy week at Davis Cup, Kwon didn’t play last week. He also had to get home to prep for the return of the ATP to Korea, for the first time in 25 years. He won the Nur-Sultan tournament a year ago).

Vasek Pospisil (CAN): No. 142 ==========> No. 149 (Idle last week after his Davis Cup effort, Pospisil drops some points from his second-round effort in Metz a year ago. He’s in the final round of qualifying this week at the pop-up tournament in Tel Aviv).

Liam Broady (GBR): No. 140 ==========> No. 174 (Idle last week, Broady drops the points from winning a Challenger in Biel, Switzerland a year ago. He’s the top seed in Tel Aviv qualifying this week).

Max Purcell (AUS): No. 233 ==========> No. 298 (A talented singles player who was ranked as high as No. 156 back in June, Purcell barely stays in the top 300 after dropping his points from last year’s Columbus Challenger final. Given that he’s top-40 in doubles, with two titles this year including Wimbledon, it’s going to become increasingly difficult for him to maintain his ability to earn a nice living with any singles ambitions he surely should still have, as he’s still just 24. A lot of players have been there).

Lucas Pouille (FRA): No. 315 ==========> No. 346 (In the top 10 for a hot minute, Pouille drops further after points from a second round in Metz last year fall off. He hasn’t played since the Ilkley Challenger in June, and had lost six of his seven first-round matches before that, going back to a Challenger in Prague in April).