2020's biggest climbers: Men
With much of the world at a relative standstill, we're reflecting on times of more significant movement on the global tennis scene. The first two months of the tennis season saw a number of players take large strides through the ATP rankings as a result of their performances on the ITF World Tennis Tour.
Here are the most significant movers in the Top 500 (including some players very much worth keeping an eye on when tennis resumes):
French teenager Harold Mayot has enjoyed comfortably the biggest jump of all players in the Top 500 this year after seamlessly graduating from the ITF World Tennis Tour to ATP Challenger events. The 18-year-old, who ended 2019 by winning his first professional title at M15 Villers Les Nancy and went on to end his junior career in style with the Junior Australian Open title in January, proceeded to reach the quarter-finals at two ATP Challenger events in January and February – sparking a rankings hike of 234 places to take him into the Top 500 and up to a career-high No. 447. Described as “a very big worker, a very big fighter” by his physical trainer Sebastien Poublet, the youngster is undoubtedly one to watch when top-flight tennis resumes.
American Raymond Sarmiento began 2020 with a quarter-final run at the M25 Los Angeles tournament and went from strength-to-strength from there, reaching back-to-back quarterfinals at ATP Challenger tournaments in Newport Beach and Cleveland before a third round run at the Indian Wells Challenger. Those results earned the 27-year-old a leap of 178 places in the rankings, taking him back up to No. 381 in the world and ever-closer to his career-high spot of No. 287.
Ulises Blanch also made a good start to 2020 at an ITF World Tour event on American soil, using his semi-final run at the M25 Rancho Sante Fe tournament in January as the springboard to success on the Challenger Tour. A run to the quarter-finals at the Cleveland Challenger and the semi-finals at the Monterrey Challenger followed, with the 22-year-old American catapulting 177 places up the ATP ladder to a career-high No. 240 as a result.
A Spanish teenager tearing up the opposition on Spanish soil in Manacor... where have we heard that one before? Carlos Alcaraz will be worth keeping a close eye on if his prolific start to 2020 is anything to go by. At just 16 years old, Alcaraz already has three ITF World Tennis Tour titles to his name – two of which came this January at M15 tournaments on the hard courts of Manacor. He followed those with a runner-up finish at the M15 tournament in Antalya, and even made his ATP Tour level debut as a wild card in Rio de Janeiro where he stunned former world No. 17 Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the first round. He now sits at a lofty No. 318 in the world after climbing 172 spots in the rankings since January and has a remarkable 74% win-rate from 53 matches in his professional career so far. In summary, the kid’s good.
Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech enjoyed a positive 2019 season on the ITF World Tennis Tour, scooping three titles at M15 tournaments, and he’s kicked on another gear this year by winning his first two Challenger titles. Triumphs at ATP events in Rennes and Calgary either side of a runner-up finish in Drummondville helped the 24-year-old rocket 162 places to a career-high ranking of No. 160 at the turn of March.
There were also big moves for 18-year-old American Brandon Nakashima, who won his second M25 title and went on to leap 144 places by the time of the ranking freeze on 16 March after further success on the ATP Challenger Tour; 21-year-old Kacper Zuk, who shot up 143 spots courtesy of winning M25 Barnstaple – his fourth ITF title – before reaching the last four at the Calgary Challenger; and Laurent Thomas, who won back-back titles at M15 events in Monastir and was rewarded with a ranking rise of 142 places and a spot in the Top 500 for the first time.
Top 10 biggest movers in the ATP Top 500 in 2020
Harold Mayot +234
Raymond Sarmiento +178
Ulises Blanch +177
Carlos Alcaraz +172
Arthur Rinderknech +162
Jurij Rodionov +161
Brandon Nakashima +144
Kacper Zuk +143
Laurent Thomas +142
Benjamin Bonzi +138
Outside of the Top 500, the biggest ranking jump in the ATP rankings so far in 2020 was achieved by Portugal’s Joao Monteiro, who soared 972 places from 1909= to No. 937. The former world No. 237 began his resurgence with strong runs at three M15 events – including a semi-final finish in Manacor.
The biggest leap in the ITF rankings was achieved by 23-year-old Australian Jordan Smith, who surged 924 places from 2525= to a career-high No. 1601 after reaching the round of 16 as a qualifier at both M25 Mildura and M25 Geelong.
Find out the highest climbers in the women's game this year here.