January 22, 2025

Open Court

MORE TENNIS THAN YOU'LL EVER NEED

ATP Rankings Report – As of Feb. 20, 2023

Daniil Medvedev spent just a few weeks out of the top 10 after the Australian Open. And now, having looked like his vintage self last week in Rotterdam, he’s back in the top 10 – all the way to No. 8.

Rotterdam finalist Jannik Sinner also looked more like “Jannik Sinner”. And he moves up two spots to No. 12. That’s five spots gained in two weeks within the top 20. Which is nice work.

 Carlos Alcaraz, who began last week just 340 points behind Novak Djokovic for the No. 1 spot, adds 250 for winning Buenos Aires.

The only problem is that he also drops 500 from his Rio Open win a year ago. So he’s at a net negative, even if – should he win in Rio this week, he’d be just 90 points behind the Australian Open champion.

For the complete ATP Tour rankings for Monday, click here.

ON THE UPSWING

Daniil Medvedev (RUS): No. 11 ========> No. 8 (The former No. 1 – he reached that number on Feb. 28 a year ago) seems back in the swing of things after winning Rotterdam. He came back from a set down to win twice – matching the number of times he did that in all of 2022. He dropped out of the top 10 after the Australian Open, so it didn’t take him long to get it back).

Jannik Sinner (ITA): No. 14 ========> No. 12 (Sinner moved up three with his win in Montpellier the previous week, and two more making the final in Rotterdam. Looks like he’s finally kickstarted his season, and that bodes well).

Musetti on the practice court at the 2023 Australian Open

Lorenzo Musetti (ITA): No. 20 ========> No. 18 (Musetti lost to Juan Pablo Varillas in the Buenos Aires quarterfinals, but moves up to tie his career high reached after the  Australian Open).

Grigor Dimitrov (BUL): No. 28 ========> No. 25 (Dimitrov was a surprise semifinalist in Rotterdam as an unseeded player, but no match for Medvedev).

Tallon Griekspoor (NED): No. 61 ========> No. 40 (The wild card rolled into the semis in Rotterdam, and gave Jannik Sinner a super match. He’s now the No. 2 player in his country).

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Mackenzie McDonald (USA): No. 56 ========> No. 49 (McDonald is back in the top 50 and one away from his career high after making the Delray semifinals).

Gregoire Barrere (FRA): No. 71 ========> No. 58 (A nice jump for Barrere, even though he only made the second round in Rotterdam. He came out of the qualifying, though, and is at another career high after last week’s new career high).

Bernabe Zapata Miralles (ESP): No. 74========> No. 63 (A win over Schwartzman and a run to the semifinals earns the 26-year-old a new career high on Monday).

Dusan Lajovic (SRB): No. 90 ========> No. 80 (Lajovic, a former No. 23, makes the quarters in Argentina).

Juan Pablo Varillas during Australian Open qualifying – he’s at a career high this week after a great run in Buenos Aires.

Juan Pablo Varillas (PER): No. 101 ========> No. 81 (The Peruvian who defeated Quebecer Alexis Galarneau in the AO qualies makes the semis in Buenos Aires and, at 27, looks like he won’t have to worry about Slam qualifying for awhile. He has never been straight into a major. And on the two occasions he made it – Roland Garros last year and the Australian Open this year as a lucky loser – he took a high seed to five sets. That was Félix Auger-Aliassime in Paris, losing after being up two sets to none and Alexander Zverev, after being up two sets to one. Obviously prefers the clay. But clearly able on other surfaces).

Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS): No. 141 ========> No. 100 (Kokkinakis wins a big Challenger in Bahrain to move back into the top 100).

Stan Wawrinka (SUI): No. 130 ========> No. 105 (Wawrinka is finally making some headway in the rankings, on his comeback tour. He made the quarterfinals in Rotterdam and, this week, is into the Marseille tournament main draw without needing a wild card or to use a protected ranking).

Gijs Brouwer (NED: No. 160 ========> No. 116 (A career high for the 26-year-old, who took a wild card into the Rotterdam quarterfinals and soars to a new career high. Until this week, he had only played five matches at the ATP level. Total).

The Mullet Man, out-mulleted at the All-England Club.

Max Purcell (AUS): No. 203 ========> No. 155 (The man with the Mullet wins the ATP Challenger in Chennai, to move to a new career high).

Abedallah Shelbayh (JOR): No. 399 ========> No. 276 (The 19-year-old who left home to train at the Rafa Nadal academy at (and started off as a righty) is from Amman, Jordan. He makes the Bahrain Challenger final and jumps way up in the rankings. He played at the University of Florida in 2021-22, a teammate of Ben Shelton).

Matija Pecotic (CRO): No. 784 ========> No. 573 (Pecotic had 24 points on his ATP resumé before random luck had him into the qualifying and through to the second round at Delray Beach. He earned 32 points for his effort, moving him up 211 spots).

ON THE DOWNSWING

Tommy Paul (USA): No. 18 ========> No. 21 (Paul, who was the No. 2 seed in Delray Beach, won a match and lost in the quarterfinals, with 90 points to defend from his semifinal there a year ago. He has quarterfinal points from last year’s Acapulco tournament falling off in a week).

Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP): No. 24 ========> No. 28 (Bautista Agut was beaten by Hubert Hurkacz – against whom he was 4-0 coming in – in the first round in Rotterdam and drops the 250 points he earned from winning Doha a year ago. A year ago, he was at No. 15; it’s been sort of a slow, gradual drop).

(Carmen Mandato/Getty Images for Laver Cup)

Diego Schwartzman (ARG): No. 32 ========> No. 38 (It’s been a slow, gradual slide for the former No. 8, whom we persist in thinking just isn’t 100 percent physically. A year ago, he was at No. 13. He was beaten by Bernabe Zapata Miralles in the second round in Buenos Aires).

Jack Draper (GBR): No. 38 ========> No. 44 (Draper’s season hasn’t gotten off to a healthy start, and he withdrew from Marseille this week. He drops points from a Challenger win a year ago in Italy – and will drop 80 more this week from a second Challenger win in the same location).

Benjamin Bonzi (FRA): No. 48 ========> No. 60 (Bonzi drew Sinner in the first round in Rotterdam, which was tough luck. So he lost and drops the points from his semifinal in Marseille a year ago. Two weeks ago, he was at a career-high No. 42).

Lorenzo Sonego (ITA): No. 60 ========> No. 71 (Sonego is a better player than his current ranking. But he’s up and down a lot with consistency being his big issue. He drew Auger-Aliassime in the first round in Rotterdam, and drops points from his second round in Rio a year ago).

(TennisTV)

Fabio Fognini (ITA): No. 66 ========> No. 86 (It’s a long way down for Fognini in the singles, after losing to Laslo Djere and apparently suffering a slight injury. He did rally and win the doubles with countryman Simone Bolelli – 10 years after they won the same title in Buenos Aires. He made the semis in Rio last year, which is where the point drop comes from. But he knows who to hang with).

Roman Safiullin (RUS): No. 83 ========> No. 97 (Safiullin lost in the final round of qualifying in Rotterdam, and drops points from his breakthrough effort to the semis in Marseille a year ago. He also has semifinal points from a 2022 Challenger in Pau to defend this week).

Reilly Opelka (USA): No. 81 ========> No. 104 (Opelka drops out of the top 100 with his continued absence after hip surgery. These pointsn drop off from his Delray Beach final a year ago, and he has the ponts from his win at the Houston 250 in early April coming up. He’s entered in a lot of tournaments this winter, but there’s no real official word on when he’ll be back).

Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO): No. 84========> No. 113 (Basilashvili, always a streaky character, has had some pretty dismal results during this period of time when his off-court life is so disheveled. He was out in the Rotterdam qualies, and drops the points from his 2022 final to drop out of the top 100 for the first time – with the exception of a week last October – since Oct. 2016. He’s 1-5 in the main draws so far in 2023).

Jack Sock (USA): No. 143========> No. 151 (Sock, who hasn’t left the U.S. for awhile, bowed out to financial executive Matija Pecotic in Delray Beach. He’ll be at the Challenger in Rome, Georgia this week).

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Pablo Andujar (ESP): No. 168 ========> No. 211 (Andujar is out there, but it doesn’t seem particularly heartfelt at age 37. Idle last week, he drops the points from his Rio quarterfinal of a year ago. And he drops out of the top 200 for the first time since he fell right off the charts through injury back in 2018).

Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA): No. 332 ========> No. 374

THE CANADIANS

THE RACE TO TURIN

THE RACE TO MILAN

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