After Ruud’s win in Madrid, who are the new best men’s tennis players seeking their first "big" title?

Big titles—everyone wants them, but not everyone has them.

For the men, “big titles” are the three highest levels of title: Grand Slams, the ATP Finals and Masters 1000s. The Olympic gold medal, which only comes around once every four years, also counts.

They’re not easy to come by, even for the best players in the world. For instance, until his triumph in Madrid last weekend, Casper Ruud was objectively the most accomplished active men’s player without a big title, with a resume that included six previous big finals (including three Grand Slam finals), 12 career titles and a career-high ranking of No. 2.

But with Ruud now removing himself from the list of best active men’s players yet to win a big title, who are the new frontrunners?

Here are the five biggest suspects at the moment—the five highest-ranked players on the ATP rankings seeking their first big title.

Alex de Minaur, Australia (world No. 8)

Ruud bounced back into the Top 10—to No. 7—after winning Madrid, and you only have to go down one spot to find the new highest-ranked player seeking his first big title in No. 8-ranked De Minaur.

De Minaur has firmly established himself as a top player over the last few years, reaching his first big final in Canada in 2023, falling to Jannik Sinner—he was two points away from another big final just a few weeks ago in Monte Carlo, falling to Lorenzo Musetti in a third set tie-break in the semifinals. He also has nine career titles, including two ATP 500s, and has reached the quarterfinals at the last four Grand Slams in a row—the only man other than Sinner to achieve that feat.

Having gone deep at big events on every surface in the last few years, it’s only a matter of time before he goes all the way at one of them.

Lorenzo Musetti, Italy (world No. 9)

De Minaur isn’t the only member of the Top 10 chasing his first big title—Musetti, who just made his Top 10 debut at No. 9, is on the hunt too.

The Italian rising star has come close over the last month—he made his first big final in Monte Carlo, falling to Carlos Alcaraz in three sets, and another semifinal in Madrid last week, falling to Jack Draper. He has two career titles, including an ATP 500, and—like De Minaur—he’s shown he’s more than capable of doing it on any surface, having reached his first Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon last year.

Having won 18 of his last 22 matches on clay, Musetti might take his name off this list sooner than we think, in Rome or even in Paris...

Tommy Paul, United States (world No. 12)

The American may not have been to a big final yet, but he’s come close several times in the last few years, reaching two big semifinals in 2023 (Australian Open and Canada) and another two in 2024 (Indian Wells and Rome). He’s been to another five big quarterfinals, too.

There’s no reason he can’t win his first big title in the next few months, either, having had lots of success on every surface—in addition to reaching the semifinals in Rome last year, he’s a former junior champion at Roland Garros, and he won the biggest of his four career titles at Queen’s Club—an ATP 500 event on grass—just before Wimbledon last year (where he reached the quarterfinals).

Ben Shelton, United States (world No. 13)

The 22-year-old American’s biggest results have come on hard courts—both of his Grand Slam semifinals (one at the US Open and one at the Australian Open), his other Grand Slam quarterfinal (at the Australian Open), all three of his Masters 1000 quarterfinals, and his biggest career title at the ATP 500 event in Tokyo two years ago.

But like Paul, Shelton has been getting more and more dangerous on clay, winning the title in Houston last year and, just a few weeks ago, reaching the final of the ATP 500 clay-court event in Munich—that was the biggest clay-court final an American man has reached since before he was even born, since Andre Agassi won Rome in 2002.

If it doesn't happen for him during the rest of the clay-court season or the grass-court season, he'll definitely be one to watch in the summer.

Arthur Fils, France (world No. 14)

The only other man in the Top 15 without a big title is Arthur Fils, but if his trajectory keeps going the way it is, that could change at any time.

At just 20 years old, and having only played his first full year on the tour in 2023, he’s already captured three career titles, including two ATP 500s at Hamburg and Tokyo last year—one on clay, one on hard. He reached his first second week at a major last year too, at Wimbledon.

But it’s his results at Masters 1000s this year that have propelled him into the Top 15 for the first time—he reached the quarterfinals of Indian Wells, Miami and Monte Carlo, which actually made him the youngest player to reach the quarterfinals of the first three Masters 1000 events of the year since Masters 1000 tournaments began in 1990.

The question for Fils isn't if he'll win a big title, it's just how soon.

Honorable Mentions

Outside the Top 15, there are plenty of active players who’ve reached big finals before but who are still seeking their first big title.

Some have even reached multiple big finals: Matteo Berrettini with two (Madrid, Wimbledon); David Goffin with two (ATP Finals, Cincinnati); Nick Kyrgios also with two (Cincinnati, Wimbledon); Gael Monfils with three (Paris, Paris and Monte Carlo); Kei Nishikori with five (Madrid, US Open, Miami, Canada and Monte Carlo); and Milos Raonic also with five (Canada, Paris, Indian Wells, Wimbledon, Cincinnati).

There’s also Richard Gasquet, a three-time Masters 1000 finalist with 16 career titles all at the ATP 250 level. The Frenchman doesn't have much time left, though—he's set to retire at Roland Garros in a few weeks.

And finally, a trio of current Top 30 players—Frances Tiafoe, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov—all former Top 10 players who’ve been to a Masters 1000 final before. The two Canadians have also both won ATP 500s—Shapovalov one, Auger-Aliassime three.