ATP Rankings: Taylor Fritz cracks top 10 for first time as American hails ‘dream’ and ‘massive milestone’

Taylor Fritz in action

Taylor Fritz ticked a major achievement from his to-do list this week as he climbed into the top 10 of the ATP Rankings for the first time, saying ‘it’s nice to finally get there”.

The 24-year-old was assured of making it into the top 10 list after reaching the final of the Japan Open, but he went on to win the title on Sunday, beating fellow American and close friend Frances Tiafoe in the showpiece match.

As a result, he climbed three places to a career-high No 8, becoming the first American since Jack Sock in 2017 to make it into the top 10.

“I think every kid growing up and every player when you first start playing, [reaching the] Top 10 is a massive milestone and it’s a dream that you want to tick off [that] box,” he told ATPTour.com.

“Obviously everyone wants to be No 1 in the world, Top 5, there is more that I want to achieve. But I’ll always be a Top 10 player. That can never be taken away from me.

“It’s one of those things that you strive for and you want for a really long time, so it’s nice to finally get there.”

Having started the year just outside the top 20, Fritz kicked on by winning his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title at the Indian Wells Masters while he also won the Eastbourne International in June.

“I felt like things started falling into place and [when] I went into this year, a lot of people asked me what it was going to take to be Top 10,” the American said.

“I said, ‘Nothing, I just need to play the way I’ve been playing.’ Obviously [I needed] good results, but I felt like going into this year when I was ranked 20 or whatever it was, I thought my level was of a Top 10 player, so I definitely believed from the end of last year that it was super achievable.”

Carlos Alcaraz remains at world No 1 despite losing his opening match at the Astana Open last week and he is followed by 22-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal, Casper Ruud, Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Greek Tsitsipas climbed one spot after finishing runner-up to Novak Djokovic in Nur-Sultan with the injured Alexander Zverev dropping one place.

Djokovic remains at No 7 despite winning in Astana, but the 500 points he picked up were enough to help him to qualify for the season-ending ATP Finals.

Great Britain’s Cameron Norrie drops two places after he was unable to play in Tokyo following a positive Covid-19 test.

Meanwhile, Tiafoe moved to a career-best No 17 on the back of his runners-up spot in Japan.

ATP Rankings Top 20

1. Carlos Alcaraz Spain 6,740 points
2. Rafael Nadal Spain 5,810
3. Casper Ruud Norway 5,645
4. Daniil Medvedev – 5,245
5. Stefanos Tsitsipas Greece 5,065
6. Alexander Zverev Germany 5,040
7. Novak Dkokovic Serbia 4,320
8. Taylor Fritz United States 3,510
9. Andrey Rublev – 3,480
10. Cameron Norrie Great Britain 3,445
11. Hubert Hurkacz Poland 3,265
12. Jannik Sinner Italy 3,040
13. Felix Auger-Aliassime Canada 2,950
14. Marin Cilic Croatia 2,540
15. Pablo Carreno Busta Spain 2,360
16. Matteo Berrettini Italy 2,360
17. Frances Tiafoe United States 2,240
18. Diego Schwartzman Argentina 2,110
19. Karen Khachanov – 2,035
20. Denis Shapovalov Canada 1,925

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