ATP Rankings: Carlos Alcaraz, Ben Shelton, Joao Fonseca make list of youngest players in top 50
Two teenagers feature on the list of the eight youngest players in the top 50 of the season-ending ATP Rankings and both of them were title winners in 2025.
Having cracked the top 100 for the first time in his career this year, rising Brazilian star Joao Fonseca has the honour of not only being the youngest player in the top 50, but also the top 100 while world No 1 Carlos Alcaraz also features.
Last year, teenager Jakub Mensik was the youngest player inside the top 50 as he was 19 years old with Juncheng Shang, also 19, in second place.
The Czech features again, but Juncheng has tumbled down the rankings as he is currently at No 255, proving it is not always easy to follow up a good breakthrough season. But several on the current list have managed to be consistent for several years.
The 8 Youngest Players In Top 50 Of ATP Rankings
8. Ben Shelton – 23 years and one month
The American, who only turned 23 on October 9, enjoyed his best season on the ATP Tour as he cracked the top 10 of the rankings for the first time, peaking at No 5 before finishing the year at No 9.
Shelton won his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title as he lifted the Canadian Open trophy, reached the semi-final of the Australian Open and also qualified for the season-ending ATP Finals for the first time in his career.
7. Holger Rune – 22 years and seven months
Former world No 4 Rune finished the year at No 15 following a heartbreaking injury in October as he ruptured his Achilles and is expected to be out of action for several months.
It wasn’t his best campaign, but he still won the Barcelona Open – beating Alcaraz in the final – and finished runner-up to Jack Draper at the Indian Wells Masters.
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6. Carlos Alcaraz – 22 years and six months
The six-time Grand Slam winner is just a couple of days younger than Rune (April 29) as the Spaniard celebrates his birthday on May 5.
It was another excellent year for Alcaraz as he won the French Open and US Open and returned to No 1 in the rankings, replacing Jannik Sinner at the top. He also finished runner-up at Wimbledon and the ATP Finals and won three ATP Masters 1000 titles.
5. Arthur Fils – 21 years and five months
A year that started promising for the Frenchman ended in disappointment due to a serious back injury he sustained at the French Open as he missed Wimbledon and the US Open.
Fils reached the quarter-finals of the Indian Wells Open, Miami Open and Monte Carlo Masters and climbed to No 14 in the rankings on the back of that run, but eventually finished at No 40.
4. Alex Michelsen – 21 years and three months
The American sits at No 38 in the year-end rankings after hitting No 30 earlier in the year.
Michelsen didn’t reach any finals in 2025 with his best performances in the big events a run to the quarter-final of the Canadian Open while he made the fourth round of the Australian Open.
3. Jakub Mensik – 20 years and two months
Mensik, who celebrates his birthday on September 1, was only 19 when he won the biggest title of his career by defeating tennis great Novak Djokovic in the final of the Miami Open.
That was the Czech youngster’s maiden and, to date, only ATP Tour singles title with his other excellent run coming at the quarter-final of the Madrid Open.
Mensik finished 2025 at No 19.
2. Learner Tien – 19 years and 11 months
The American currently sits at a career-high No 28 with his rise coming on the back of his excellent end to the year as he reached his maiden final at the China Open, finishing runner-up to Sinner.
He followed it up with a first top-level title at the Moselle Open in November, beating Cameron Norrie in the final.
Tien also reached the fourth round of the Australian Open as a qualifier after famously beating fifth seed Daniil Medvedev in a marathon five-setter in the second round.
1. Joao Fonseca – 19 years and three months
Easily one of the most exciting youngsters on the ATP Tour with Fonseca making waves at the Argentine Open in February as he won his maiden title.
Trophy No 2 arrived at the ATP 500 Swiss Indoors in October with many believing it is only a matter of before he hits the top 10 of the rankings and win even bigger tournaments.
Fonseca started the 2025 season at No 145, but finished at No 24.
