ATP Rankings: 5 tennis stars who could make their top-10 debuts in 2026

Oli Dickson Jefford 24 Dec 2025 12:00 PM

Pictured L-R: Alexander Bublik, Flavio Cobolli, and Joao Fonseca.

ATP Tour stars Alexander Bublik, Flavio Cobolli, and Joao Fonseca.

The 2025 tennis season proved to be a memorable one, and even if Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner dominated at the Grand Slams, there were plenty of great stories elsewhere.

Ben Shelton, Lorenzo Musetti, and Jack Draper were among those to surge up the ATP Rankings in 2025, all cracking the top 10 for the very first time this season.

Here, we look at five more ATP Tour stars who could be in line to crack the top 10 of the ATP Rankings in 2026.

Alexander Bublik

Current Ranking: 11th
Career-high Ranking: 11th

After producing the best tennis of his entire career in the second half of 2025, how much further can Bublik push on across 2026?

The Kazakh reached his first Grand Slam quarter-final at Roland Garros and then won four ATP Tour titles across the rest of the season, doubling his career tally to eight titles overall.

Bublik also reached the fourth round of the US Open in September and climbed up to a stunning new career-high of 11th — having been outside the top 80 earlier in the year.

The 28-year-old is just 120 points behind world No 10 Draper and, with few points to defend in the opening months of the season, could be in line for a huge milestone.

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Jiri Lehecka

Current Ranking: 17th
Career-high Ranking: 16th

Part of a strong generation of Czech men’s tennis, Lehecka will look to push on further in 2026 after an incredibly solid 2025.

Lehecka started his year with victory at the Brisbane International and would later reach finals in Queen’s and Brussels, while also progressing towards the last eight of the US Open.

Injuries have held the 24-year-old back in the past, but he appears to be approaching 2026 with a clean bill of health.

Lehecka has a big game that can cause damage on all surfaces, and he will certainly be one to watch over the next twelve months.

Jakub Mensik

Current Ranking: 19th
Career-high Ranking: 16th

Few players broke out quite so dramatically as Mensik in 2025, with the Czech memorably beating Novak Djokovic to complete a surprise run to the Miami Open title in March.

Ranked 54th at the time, victory at the Masters 1000 event propelled the Czech player significantly up the rankings, and he reached a career-high ranking of 16th in August.

Mensik’s momentum cooled throughout the second half of the season, though there is no doubt the 20-year-old has huge potential, with a big serve and efficiently clean groundstrokes.

One of the brightest rising stars in the men’s game, another big breakthrough for him in 2026 would not come as a surprise.

Flavio Cobolli

Current Ranking: 22nd
Career-high Ranking: 17th

Cobolli lost eight straight ATP Tour matches towards the start of the season, though he turned things around to achieve a career-best season in 2025.

The Italian was a Davis Cup hero at the end of the season, but also won his first two ATP Tour titles in Bucharest and Hamburg — while reaching his first Grand Slam quarter-final at Wimbledon.

Cracking the top 20 of the ATP Rankings for the first time, the 23-year-old reached a high of 17th in the summer, and is ranked just outside the top 20 heading into 2026.

It is a golden age for Italian tennis, and Cobolli could become a key part of that over the coming twelve months.

Joao Fonseca

Current Ranking: 24th
Career-high Ranking: 24th

Long touted as one of the hottest prospects in men’s tennis, Fonseca soared up the ATP Rankings during an impressive 2025 campaign.

The Brazilian was outside the top 140 of the ATP Rankings at the start of the year but ended the year ranked 24th, winning his maiden ATP Tour titles at the Argentina Open and Swiss Indoors.

Winning at least one match on his debut appearances at all four Grand Slams, the 19-year-old showed maturity beyond his years and proved his burgeoning potential on the very biggest stages.

A top-10 breakthrough may be a slight push for Fonseca over the next twelve months, but anything seems possible for a player of his talent.

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