Tennis: Coric climbs 123 ranking places after Cincinnati title

PARIS, France -- Croatia's Borna Coric soared a remarkable 123 places in the ATP rankings on Monday after becoming the lowest ranked player to win a Masters 1000 title in Cincinnati.

The 25-year-old spent a year out of action with a shoulder injury which required surgery, before returning in March.

He arrived in Cincinnati as the world number 152 after spending much of his 2022 season on the second-tier Challenger circuit but is now ranked 29th.

Coric dropped just one set in the tournament, against 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal in the second round, and beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in Sunday's final.

Tsitsipas climbed two places to world number five, while Cincinnati semi-finalist Cameron Norrie jumped two spots to a career-high ranking of ninth.

ATP top 20:

1. Daniil Medvedev 6,885 pts

2. Alexander Zverev (GER) 5,760

3. Rafael Nadal (ESP) 5,630

4. Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) 5,190

5. Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) 4,890 (+2)

6. Novak Djokovic (SRB) 4,770

7. Casper Ruud (NOR) 4,695 (-2)

8. Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) 3,625 (+1)

9. Cameron Norrie (GBR) 3,415 (+2)

10. Hubert Hurkacz (POL) 3,355

11. Andrey Rublev 3,120 (-3)

12. Taylor Fritz (USA) 3,090 (+1)

13. Jannik Sinner (ITA) 3,020 (-1)

14. Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP) 2,375

15. Matteo Berrettini (ITA) 2,360

16. Diego Schwartzman (ARG) 2,200

17. Marin Cilic (CRO) 2,175

18. Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) 1,840 (+1)

19. Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) 1,730 (-1)

20. Alex de Minaur (AUS) 1,665

Selected:

29. Borna Coric (CRO) 1,360 (+123)

Agence France-Presse

Tennis: Medvedev stays top of ATP rankings, Hurkacz back in top 10

PARIS, France -- Russian Daniil Medvedev remained top of the ATP rankings released Monday despite his loss in the Halle final over the weekend to Poland's Hubert Hurkacz.

Hurkacz's victory saw him jump two spots into 10th place while Italian Matteo Berrettini, who won on grass at Queen's, falls to 11th and Britain's Cameron Norrie to 12th.

Serbia's Filip Krajinovic, the losing Queen's finalist, rose from 48th to 31st.

ATP rankings as of June 20, 2022

1. Daniil Medvedev 8160 pts

2. Alexander Zverev (GER) 7030

3. Novak Djokovic (SRB) 6770

4. Rafael Nadal (ESP) 6525

5.Casper Ruud (NOR) 5050

6. Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) 4945

7. Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) 4893

8. Andrey Rublev 3870

9. Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) 3760

10. Hubert Hurkacz (POL) 3738 (+2)

11. Matteo Berrettini (ITA) 3480 (-1)

12. Cameron Norrie (GBR) 3200 (-1)

13. Jannik Sinner (ITA) 3185

14. Taylor Fritz (USA) 2920

15. Diego Schwartzman (ARG) 2325 (+1)

16. Denis Shapovalov (CAN) 2293 (-1)

17. Marin Cilic (CRO) 2220

18. Reilly Opelka (USA) 2100

19. Pablo Carreno (ESP) 2045

20. Roberto Bautista (ESP) 1903

Agence France-Presse

Tennis: Djokovic keeps iron grip on number one ranking

PARIS, France -- Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic made it 329 weeks as world number one after collecting his third Grand Slam title of the year, when the new ATP rankings were released on Monday. 

Djokovic, who has already pocketed the Australian and French Opens as well as Wimbledon, is almost 2,000 points ahead of Daniil Medvedev who remains at number two. 

Matteo Berrettini, who lost Sunday's Wimbledon final to the Serb, moves up one place to eighth while Roger Federer, who has spent 310 weeks at number one in the past, dropped a place to nine.

Hubert Hurcacz, who beat Federer and became the first Pole to reach the semifinals at Wimbledon, climbed seven places from 18 to 11. 

Two Canadians were also on the rise with 20-year-old Felix Auger-Aliassime, a quarter-finalist at Wimbledon, going up four places to 15th while Denis Shapovalov edged into the top 10 after succumbing to Djokovic in the semifinals at the All-England Club.

ATP rankings as of July 12

1. Novak Djokovic (SRB) 12,113 pts

2. Daniil Medvedev (RUS) 10,370

3. Rafael Nadal (ESP) 8,270

4. Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) 8,150

5. Alexander Zverev (GER) 7,475 (+1)

6. Dominic Thiem (AUT) 7,425 (-1)

7. Andrey Rublev (RUS) 6,255

8. Matteo Berrettini (ITA) 5,488 (+1)

9. Roger Federer (SUI) 4,215 (-1)

10. Denis Shapovalov (CAN) 3,625 (+2)

11. Hubert Hurkacz (POL) 3,163 (+7)

12. Diego Schwartzman (ARG) 3,060 (-1)

13. Pablo Carreno (ESP) 2,940

14. Roberto Bautista (ESP) 2,765 (-4)

15. Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) 2,738 (+4)

16. Casper Ruud (NOR) 2,725 (-2)

17. Alex De Minaur (AUS) 2,690 (-2)

18. Christian Garín (CHI) 2,610 (+2)

19. Gaël Monfils (FRA) 2,603 (-2)

20. David Goffin (BEL) 2,500 (-4)

Agence France-Presse

Tennis: Nadal stays third in ATP rankings despite Rome triumph

PARIS, France -- Rafael Nadal remained third in the ATP rankings published on Monday despite seeing off Novak Djokovic to win a 10th Italian Open title at the weekend.

Spaniard Nadal set down a key marker on Sunday, two weeks out from the defence of his Roland Garros crown with a 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 over Djokovic, who stays top of the rankings.

Nadal, a 13-time French Open winner, is also behind Daniil Medvedev, who suffered a second round exit in Rome to continue his struggles on clay.

The United States enters its second week without a player in the top 30, with Taylor Fritz dropping a place down to 32nd.

Fritz's compatriot Reilly Opelka has moved up 12 places to 35th. 

ATP top 20 on Monday (changes in brackets):

1. Novak Djokovic (SRB) 11063 points 

2. Daniil Medvedev (RUS) 9793 

3. Rafael Nadal (ESP) 9630 

4. Dominic Thiem (AUT) 8445 

5. Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) 7430 

6. Alexander Zverev (GER) 7115 

7. Andrey Rublev (RUS) 6090 

8. Roger Federer (SUI) 5605 

9. Matteo Berrettini (ITA) 3958 

10. Diego Schwartzman (ARG) 3465 

11. Roberto Bautista (ESP) 3215 

12. Pablo Carreno (ESP) 3085 

13. David Goffin (BEL) 2875 

14. Gael Monfils (FRA) 2703 (+1) 

15. Denis Shapovalov (CAN) 2675 (-1) 

16. Milos Raonic (CAN) 2518 (+4) 

17. Jannik Sinner (ITA) 2500 (+1) 

18. Hubert Hurkacz (POL) 2498 (+1) 

19. Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) 2498 (+2) 

20. Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) 2496 (-3)

Agence France-Presse

Tennis: Nadal ends year as number 1 for 5th time

Rafael Nadal was confirmed as the year-end world number one for the fifth time after the ATP released its season-closing rankings on Monday.

The Spaniard did not make it beyond the group stage of last week's ATP Finals in London but Novak Djokovic's failure to reach the semi-finals meant Nadal closed the year with 9,985 points, 840 clear of the Serb.

Nadal draws level with rivals Djokovic and Roger Federer, who have also finished the year in top spot five times, and moves one behind six-time end-of-year number one Pete Sampras.

Nadal and Djokovic have been this year's two dominant players after winning two Majors each.

Djokovic won the Australian Open and Wimbledon with Nadal cleaning up at Roland Garros and the US Open.

Federer ends the season at number three for the second year running. The Swiss, who turned 38 in August, has cut down his Tour commitments to focus on events around Grand Slams.

He reached the semi-finals of the French Open where he lost to Nadal and the last eight at Flushing Meadows where he lost in five sets to world number 20 Gregor Dimitrov.

In between he lost an epic Wimbledon final against Djokovic, the first to be decided by a tie-break in the fifth set, suggesting that he still has hopes of a 21st major title in 2020.

Dominic Thiem, who took a set off Nadal in the final of the French Open, moves up to number four after reaching the final of the ATP Finals where he lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas.

The 21-year-old Greek closes the year at number six, just behind Daniil Medvedev, after his triumph in London.

Former world number one Andy Murray began the year ranked at 240 and the prospect of retirement.

As he struggled with surgery on a hip injury and the subsequent recuperation he had slipped to 503 in September before a dramatic return to the courts, which produced a remarkable victory at the European Open in Antwerp, lifted him to a year-end 126.

ATP year-end rankings as of November 18:

1. Rafael Nadal (ESP) 9,985 pts

2. Novak Djokovic (SRB) 9,145

3. Roger Federer (SUI) 6,590

4. Dominic Thiem (AUT) 5,825 (+1)

5. Daniil Medvedev (RUS) 5,705 (-1)

6. Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) 5,300

7. Alexander Zverev (GER) 3,345

8. Matteo Berrettini (ITA) 2,870

9. Roberto Bautista (ESP) 2,540

10. Gaël Monfils (FRA) 2,530

11. David Goffin (BEL) 2,335

12. Fabio Fognini (ITA) 2,290

13. Kei Nishikori (JPN) 2,180

14. Diego Schwartzman (ARG) 2,125

15. Denis Shapovalov (CAN) 2,050

16. Stan Wawrinka (SUI) 2,000

17. Karen Khachanov (RUS) 1840

18. Alex De Minaur (AUS) 1775

19. John Isner (USA) 1770

20. Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) 1747

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Tennis: Murray climbs over 200 places, Djokovic stays top in ATP rankings

PARIS -- Former world number one Andy Murray climbed over 200 places in the new ATP rankings released on Monday while Novak Djokovic extended his lead over Rafael Nadal at the top. 

Scotsman Murray, who is on the comeback trail after career-saving hip surgery, reached the quarter-finals of the China Open where he lost to eventual winner Dominic Thiem.

The run lifted the 32-year-old 214 places from 503 in the world to 289.

He can climb into the top 250 if he beats Juan Ignacio Londero later on Monday in the first round of the Shanghai Masters where Murray is a three-time champion.

Djokovic's win in Tokyo at the weekend means the Serb is at number one for the 271st week of his career, one more than Ivan Lendl and trailing only Roger Federer (310) and Pete Sampras (286).

Djokovic heads to Shanghai as defending champion while Nadal, his closest pursuer 1,140 points behind, has had to pull out with a wrist injury he picked up during last month's Laver Cup. 

Thiem's victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas in Beijing sees the Austrian close to just 50 points behind the Russian Daniil Medvedev. 


ATP Rankings as of October 7:

1. Novak Djokovic (SRB) 10,365 pts

2. Rafael Nadal (ESP) 9,225

3. Roger Federer (SUI) 7,130

4. Daniil Medvedev (RUS) 4,965

5. Dominic Thiem (AUT) 4,915

6. Alexander Zverev (GER) 4,185

7. Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) 3,630

8. Kei Nishikori (JPN) 3,040

9. Karen Khachanov (RUS) 2,945

10. Roberto Bautista (ESP) 2,575

11. Gael Monfils (FRA) 2,375

12. Fabio Fognini (ITA) 2,280

13. Matteo Berrettini (ITA) 2,221

14. David Goffin (BEL) 2,190 (+1)

15. Borna Coric (CRO) 2,130 (-1)

16. Diego Schwartzman (ARG) 1,995

17. John Isner (USA) 1,895 (+2)

18. Kevin Anderson (RSA) 1,780

19. Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) 1,719 (+1)

20. Stan Wawrinka (SUI) 1,670 (+1)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Nadal delighted at return to No. 1, sorry Federer out

CINCINNATI -- Rafael Nadal was thrilled Monday to learn he would return to world number one for the first time in three years but sorry it came because Roger Federer withdrew from this week's ATP Cincinnati Masters tournament.

Third-ranked Federer said he injured his back in Montreal, where he lost in Sunday's final to Germany's Alexander Zverev in a key hardcourt tuneup for the US Open.

Federer, this year's Wimbledon and Australian Open champion, was the only player who could have denied second-ranked French Open champion Nadal the top spot in next Monday's rankings.

"For me to be in that position is something very special," Nadal said. "I have the passion and love for the game. That's why I'm able to be back in that position again."

It's the first time Nadal has been number one since July of 2014.

The 31-year-old Spaniard, who won his 15th Grand Slam title this year at Roland Garros, will overtake Britain's top-ranked Andy Murray, who withdrew from Montreal and Cincinnati with a hip injury.

Nadal, who has spent 141 total weeks in the top spot, has struggled with knee injuries since first becoming world number one in August 2008 after a Cincinnati semi-final run. He admitted doubting he could ever regain the top spot after so many years.

"If you don't have doubts, it's because you are very arrogant and I'm not very arrogant," Nadal said. "There's a young generation up and coming. It's very tough to come back and be number one."

Nadal knows that while he will claim the upper hand no matter how he fares this week, the year's final Grand Slam event starting in New York on August 28 will have a major role to play in the fight with Federer for number one.

"Roger and I are having great seasons," Nadal said. "One of us will have the chance to have that position for more weeks. I'm going to try and do my best this week and see what happens."

Federer, a seven-time champion on the Cincinnati hardcourts, apologized but said he needed to rest with the US Open so near.

"I am very sorry to pull out of the Western and Southern Open as I always enjoy playing," Federer said. "Cincinnati has some of the best fans in the world and I am sorry I will miss them.

"Unfortunately, I tweaked my back in Montreal and I need to rest this week."

Federer was replaced in the draw by Italian 85th-ranked lucky loser Thomas Fabbiano, who will enjoy a first-round bye.

Nadal said he was sorry to see Federer join the list of players absent this week, which includes Murray, Serbia's Novak Djokovic, Japan's Kei Nishikori and Swiss Stan Wawrinka.

"It's bad news for Roger he's not playing," Nadal said. "I'm sorry for all of them. I hope they have good recovery. We need to see them back for the sport."

Nadal has been forced to alter training and event schedules more as he has gotten older.

"Of course we're not 20 years old any more. We're not playing all the weeks. That's part of the sport. I skip many more events than the rest of my competitors."

- Zverev 'unbelievable' -

Nadal, ousted in the third round last week at Montreal, praised Zverev, who won his fifth ATP title at Montreal on Sunday and swapped spots with Austrian Dominic Thiem to reach a career-high seventh in this week's rankings.

"You are talking about an unbelievable player. And Dominic is right there too," Nadal said, declining to offer either advice.

"Better not. I cannot give many advices. Everybody has to learn from their own mistakes. You need to do your own way and experience it for yourself."

source: news.abs-cbn.com