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Jannik Sinner rises to No. 3, becoming highest-ranked Italian tennis player in ATP or WTA rankings history

This is also the first week with no players with one-handed backhands in the Top 10 in ATP rankings history.

ByJohn Berkok

Published Feb 19, 2024

MATCH POINT: J. Sinner def. A. de Minaur; Rotterdam F

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Jannik Sinner has moved up from No. 4 to a new career-high of No. 3 following his triumph at the ATP 500 indoor event in Rotterdam.

And it’s historic: not only is he now the highest-ranked Italian player in ATP rankings history, surpassing former ATP No. 4 Adriano Panatta, but he’s the highest-ranked Italian player in either ATP or WTA rankings history, also surpassing former WTA No. 4 Francesca Schiavone.

ITALIANS TO REACH ATP OR WTA TOP 10 (since 1973 and 1975):

No. 3: Jannik Sinner [2024]
No. 4: Adriano Panatta [1976]
No. 4: Francesca Schiavone [2011]
No. 5: Sara Errani [2013]
No. 6: Flavia Pennetta [2015]
No. 6: Matteo Berrettini [2022]
No. 7: Corrado Barazzutti [1978]
No. 7: Roberta Vinci [2016]
No. 9: Fabio Fognini [2019]

Sinner has been the hottest player on tour over the last five months, winning 32 of 34 matches since the US Open and picking up four titles in that span—his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open and three ATP 500 titles, at Beijing and Vienna last year and Rotterdam last week.

He has a significant amount of ranking points to defend over the next month and a half, having reached the semifinals of Indian Wells and the final of Miami last year, but with little to defend during the clay-court season, he could soon be challenging for a spot in the Top 2.

Sinner's only two losses since the US Open came last fall, to Ben Shelton in the fourth round of Shanghai and to Novak Djokovic in the final of the ATP Finals.

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There’s even more historic news today—as was projected two days ago, there are no players with one-handed backhands in the Top 10 on the ATP rankings for the first time in history. There had been at least one in the elite every single week since ATP rankings began in 1973.

But it may not last long, as Stefanos Tsitsipas and Grigor Dimitrov are hovering just outside the Top 10 at No. 11 and No. 13, respectively.

In other ATP rankings news: Alex de Minaur rises from No. 11 to No. 9 after reaching the Rotterdam final, surpassing his previous career-high of No. 10; and Argentina’s Facundo Diaz Acosta soars from No. 87—which was his previous career-high—all the way to No. 59 after a surprise run to his first ATP title on home soil in Buenos Aires.

Tsitsipas had been carrying the Top 10 streak for one-handers by himself since the end of 2021, but dips just outside the elite this week, marking the end of an era.

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