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The last week was certainly a very interesting period on the ATP Tour. We witnessed the return of Carlos Alcaraz, a man that has been sorely missed since picking up a couple of injuries in late 2022/early 2023. We also saw Daniil Medvedev start to display the kind of form that took him to the dizzy heights of world number one not too long ago. And in terms of tournaments played, there were three events played from February 12th to February 19th.
These included one indoor hard-court event (Rotterdam), one outdoor clay-court tournament (Buenos Aires), as well as one outdoor hard-court tournament (Delray Beach). As for their respective grades, the highest-rated event was the 500-level tournament in Rotterdam, which was won by Daniil Medvedev. Both of the other two tournaments were graded as 250 events, even though they were equally as entertaining as the 500 tournament in Rotterdam.
Of course, with these three tournaments being played and completed last week, they have had an impact on the ATP rankings for the most recent update. So now, let me take you through the chopping and changing of the rankings as of the most recent, February 20th, 2023 update.
ATP Rankings Updates – Week Commencing February 20th
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Last week certainly had its fair share of thrills and spills on the ATP Tour. And I have to confess, I love this time of year on the tour as there are so many tournaments taking place. Not only that but there are so many tournaments of different varieties too. This is the case in terms of where they are played, the court surface, and the players who are involved.
But putting that to one side, let’s start by glancing through the top performers over the previous seven days.
The Week’s Biggest Climbers – A Quality Week for Medvedev, Sinner, and Griekspoor
As it happens, the three main risers of the week for the previous seven-day period all played in the Rotterdam 500-level event. However, it goes without saying that each of these three guys had a different outcome when all was said and done. So on that note, I may as well start by detailing the changes for the tournament champion – Daniil Medvedev. The Russian captured this title in impressive fashion, beating guys like Auger-Aliassime, Dimitrov, and ultimately Sinner in the final.
Since this means that Medvedev took the whole 500 points that were available for the winner, he has officially become a top 10 player once again. Specifically, he is now ranked 8 in the world following a jump of 3 spots. And it was a very similar story for the Italian, Jannik Sinner following a great week in Rotterdam. Sinner has moved from 14 in the rankings to number 12 by making the final. As for his results, Sinner took down Tsitsipas (top seed), Wawrinka, and Griekspoor en route to the final.
As you’ve just seen, Sinner was the one to end Griekspoor’s run in his home tournament. This took place in the semi-finals, and since Griekspoor had a clean slate for this seven-day period in terms of rankings points, he is the official climber of the week. By making the semi-finals, Griekspoor has shot up the rankings by 21 spots – taking him to a new ranking of 40.
The Week’s Biggest Fallers – Scwartzman, Draper, and Bautista-Agut Plummet
I should begin this rundown by discussing a shocking turn of events regarding Diego Schwartzman. In the space of just one tournament, he has gone from the Argentinian number one to the Argentinian number three. This has come to fruition due to his first round loss in Buenos Aires, and he has been leapfrogged by both Francisco Cerundolo and Sebastian Baez. Not only that, but he has fallen by 6 spots to a new ranking of 38 – certainly not what you’d expect from a highly experienced player.
Adding to the list of victims this week, we see that Jack Draper has also taken a slide down the ATP rankings ladder. His fate of sliding by 6 spots puts him down at number 44 in the rankings, although Draper didn’t actually play in any of these events. He hasn’t competed since losing in his opening round to Rafael Nadal at the 2023 Australian Open. And following in Draper’s footsteps, the third guy who was taken a tumble this week is the Spaniard, Bautista-Agut.
Bautista-Agut did compete last week in the Rotterdam event. However, he didn’t exactly have a great week, as he lost in the opening round to the 5th seed, Hubert Hurkacz. Since this meant that he dropped points last week, he is now ranked 28 in the world – a drop of 4 places from the last rankings update.
Top Rankings Stories – Medvedev Back Where He Belongs
Medvedev has been in bad form by his standards when you look at his results from the back end of 2022 through to the early part of 2023. This was all the more peculiar when you consider that he is primarily a guy that performs at his best on hard courts. However, there are signs that his run of bad form is coming to an end. In fact, based on some of his matches in Rotterdam last week, there are signs that Medvedev is getting back to his best.
When you look at his results, he absolutely dismantled some top players on the hard courts of Rotterdam. And since we are edging ever closer to the two North American Masters events, Miami and Indian Wells, Medvedev is obviously hitting form at the right time. So the fact that he is now back inside the top 10 after a bit of a downturn in form is very promising for Medvedev and his fans.
Just to quickly look at where he could go from here, Medvedev now has a total of 3,250 points. This puts him within touching distance of everyone who is outside of the top 5. So if he has a good run of form in the next few events, he could even make it back to the top 5. I for one will be watching how he performs in the coming tournaments and I’m excited to see how this story develops.
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