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Plenty of drama on finals day around the ATP Tour on Sunday with Matteo Berrettini announcing he’s back, Rafael Nadal showing the heart is as full as ever but the legs are weary.
And the charisma and flash of Arthur Fils, who got one over on Alexander Zverev in his hometown in a match that was full-bore for nearly 3 1/2 hours, and ended in epic drama.
Zverev, by making the final of a 500, got himself closer to No. 3 Alcaraz, whom he trailed by more than 1,000 points at the start of the week.
There are only a few minor changes in the top 30. But lots of moves.
For the updated ATP Tour rankings as of Monday, click here.
Casper Ruud (NOR): No. 9 ===========> No. 8 (Ruud was out quickly in singles in Bastad. But because of Andrey Rublev’s continued woes, he moves up a spot as he heads to the Olympics).
Arthur Fils (FRA): No. 28 ===========> No. 20 (Fils continued his momentum from an excellent Wimbledon, winning Hamburg and leaping into the top 20 all at the same time. And he’ll compete in his first Olympics, at home in Paris, in a week).
Zhizhen Zhang (CHN): No. 34 ===========> No. 31 (Zheng, 27, is at a new career high after making the Hamburg quarterfinals. He’s just barely behind Gaël Monfils and the top 30).
Marcos Giron (USA): No. 46 ===========> No. 38 (At 30, Giron is playing the best tennis of his life. And with his first career title in Newport, he’s into the top 40 for the first time in his career. And he’ll also soon be an Olympian).
Nuno Borges (POR): No. 51 ===========> No. 42 (A new career high for another late bloomer, at 27. The Portuguese No. 1 ran into Rafa Nadal, on clay, in his first career ATP Tour final. It wasn’t vintage Nadal, far from it. But a lovely career moment for a man who seems equally as lovely and gracious).
Matteo Berrettini (ITA): No. 82 ===========> No. 50 (It’s been a long road back to the top 50 for Berrettini, whose injury woes the last couple of years have been well documented. He wins the Gstaad title going away over Quentin Halys – it was his first career title, too. He plans to play Kitzbuhel this week to get some more of that mountain air).
Thiago Agustin Tirante (ARG): No. 121 ===========> No. 101 (It feels as though a semifinal in Bastad should be worth more than 20 spots for the 23-year-old Argentine, especially with a great effort in upsetting No. 1 seed Andrey Rublev. But it is what he is, and he’s almost back in the top 100 as he takes his momentum to Kitzbuhel).
Christopher Eubanks (USA): No. 128 ===========> No. 105 (The worst-case scenario happened for Eubanks, who was unable to defend his glorious grass run from a year ago and tumbled out of the top 100. But he turned the tide nicely in Newport, making the semifinals).
Duje Ajdukovic (SRB): No. 130 ===========> No. 110 (A career high for the 23-year-old Serb, who went from the qualifying to the semis in Bastad and ran into Nadal. He’s in Umag this week).
Quentin Halys (FRA): No. 192 ===========> No. 125 (Halys, whose career high of No. 61 came in early January 2023, is back on a roll after an excellent Wimbledon. He went from the qualifying to the final in Gstaad, and takes a chunk out of a ranking that doesn’t reflect his level. He’s back down on the Challenger circuit this week in Zug).
Rafael Nadal (ESP): No. 261 ===========> No. 161 (That guy who was ranked outside the top 250 – you might have heard of him – makes a nice dent in that by moving up 100 spots. More importantly because, let’s face it, he can get into any tournament he wants, he was on court playing every single day in Bastad. Whether it was singles or doubles. And some of those singles matches were marathons. While he doesn’t look anything like peak Nadal, that was already a victory even if the legs ran out of steam on Sunday).
Benoit Paire (FRA): No. 227 ===========> No. 211 (The globe-trotting Paire was in Newport on grass last week, winning a match (!!!!!). He’s back in Europe this week, back on clay, at a Challenger in Switzerland).
Reilly Opelka (USA): No. 1188 ===========> No. 430 (In his first tournament back after nearly two years, the 6-foot-11 Opelka roared to the semifinals in Newport. Instead of needing a wild card to get into Atlanta this week, he can take advantage of a special exempt. At this rate, as long as the body cooperates, it shouldn’t take him long to get right back up there).
Steven Diez (CAN): No. 566 ===========> No. 462 (Diez, whose career high of No. 134 came in Nov. 2019, took a break as he welcomed his first child. He returned at a $25K in Spain two weeks ago. And won it, but lost in the second round of a Challenger last week. The 33-year-old withdrew from his planned Challenger this week. But on the plus side, he’s up 100 spots).
Andrey Rublev (RUS): No. 8 ===========> No. 9 (Rublev was one and done in his opener in Bastad, as the No. 1 seed. He drops his points from winning it a year ago. He will try again in Umag this week).
Adrian Mannarino (FRA): No. 25 ===========> No. 32 (Mannarino is having trouble winning matches lately. So he wasn’t in great shape going into his title defence in Newport. It certainly didn’t help him that he ended up getting 6-foot-11 Reilly Opelka, in his first tournament in nearly two years, in the second round. He’ll try again in Atlanta this week).
Zizou Bergs (BEL): No. 73 ===========> No. 87 (The 25-year-old Belgian has his eye on his first Olympic effort in a week. And so going out in the first round of Hamburg, while he was defending points from a Gstaad quarterfinal a year ago, meant a drop in the rankings for him. He had been at a career high).
Pedro Cachin (ARG): No. 110 ===========> No. 188 (It’s crazy that the 29-year-old Cachin reached his career high of No. 48 just under a year ago. But that transition from perennial South American clay-court Challenger player to the main tour is a fraught road. Sometimes it goes well at first – as it did for Cachin in winning Gstaad a year ago. But eventually many of these players hit a brick wall. Cachin came into Gstaad at 2-14 on the season at the ATP Tour level, with first-round losses at all three majors on his rankings chart (and the first round of qualifying at Wimbledon), and at four of the five Masters 1000 tournaments. He lost in the first round – thus dropping those points from a year ago Cachin is at a Challenger in Verona this week to start the rebuilding process).
Alexis Galarneau (CAN): No. 167 ===========> No. 231 (It somehow always feels that the 25-year-old Canadian is starting over, every few months or so. As the defending champion in Granby he was defending a lot of points. And he ended up losing in the first round to Bruno Kuzuhara. So much for the points. He’ll try again at a similar event in Chicago this week, where he meets Aussie Marc Polmans in the first round. It’ll be tight for the US Open qualifying).
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