ATP Rankings: Borna Coric rebounds, Jiri Lehecka cracks top 30
Winston-Salem Open winner Sebastian Baez was the biggest mover in the top 50 of the ATP Rankings.
With his victory at Winston-Salem, the 22-year-old Baez joined Carlos Alcaraz (6 titles), Daniil Medvedev (5), and Novak Djokovic (4) as the only players to have won at least three tour-level championships this season.
The Argentinean defeated Lehecka in quick fashion in the title match to extend his winning streak to 10 games, with no evidence of weariness following his gruelling semi-final duel with Borna Coric.
Coric, the top seed in Winston-Salem, advanced to his third tour-level semifinal of the year, which increased his prospects of making a quick comeback to the Top 20 after dropping out of the elite bracket last week. In a three-hour, 19-minute marathon final-four match in North Carolina, Baez defeated the Croatian, but Coric will be glad to have gained some momentum before his US Open campaign.
Lehecka, a 21-year-old Czech, narrowly missed out on winning his first ATP Tour title in Winston-Salem but has still climbed to a career-high No 29. The hot prospect, who advanced to the 2022 Next Gen ATP Finals final and beat an in-form Max Purcell en route there, lost to Baez in the ATP 250 final.
While saving match point to defeat Richard Gasquet in the quarterfinals in Winston-Salem, Seb Korda was later forced to quit the competition after suffering an ankle injury during his victory against the Frenchman. At the ATP 250, Korda defeated Marton Fucsovics and Benjamin Bonzi in straight sets, and the first round of the US Open will see a rematch between the young American and Fucsovics.
Australian Purcell followed up his quarterfinal performance in Cincinnati with a second participation in the last eight in as many weeks in Winston-Salem. In the third round, the 25-year-old stunned the second seed Tallon Griekspoor, earning him his 11th victory in August overall (qualification matches included). Although Purcell lost to Lehecka in the quarterfinals, with the Czech showing superior strength, he has moved up four rungs on the rankingss to a new career-high No 43.
Dutchman Griekspoor (No 24) and Japan’s Yosuke Watanuki (No 85) were the other players in the top 100 to achieve new career highs this week.
Part of an Argentine pair of siblings in the top 100, Juan Manuel Cerundolo also surged up seven places to be ranked as No 93, 73 places below his brother Francisco.