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With one 500-level tournament played in Rio de Janeiro, plus two ATP 250 events in Doha and Marseille, the previous week was pretty awesome on the ATP Tour. And best of all, these tournaments served up a blend of hard court and clay court tennis – just to keep us all on our toes. Of course, it was a great week for the guys who won these three tournaments, while for others, the early exits haven’t helped their ATP rankings.
As always, I’ve chosen to keep you all updated on what’s occurred over the previous seven-day period and how it has impacted the ATP rankings right here. But in case this is your first time here, let me give you the scoop. Below, I’ll be looking at the top performances of the previous week that have led to the largest ranking increases for certain individuals.
Yet I’ll also be looking into who didn’t have such a great period, which naturally means that they have dropped down the ATP rankings ladder. Adding to this, since three big tournaments have been completed in the last week, I have plenty to report – more so than usual! So, ready to find out what’s occurred in the ATP rankings this week? Let’s have a look.
ATP Rankings Updates – Week Commencing February 27th
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Just to quickly clarify for those who aren’t sure how things work, I’ve listed the update as February 27th as the rankings updates always come out on Mondays. That’s because most ATP tournaments are wrapped up on Sundays, so it’s appropriate to produce the release of the fresh rankings the next day. And for the period covering February 20th – February 27th, a few guys have really put in the work to enjoy a significant rise in the rankings.
Let me start by looking into the guys who’ve done the best this week, as explained in the following section.
The Week’s Biggest Climbers – Medvedev, Murray, Bonzi, and Zapata Miralles Dominate
As you can see, there are four names that really deserve to be highlighted this week. But let me start with one of the best stories of them all – Andy Murray making it back into an ATP final. The week that Murray had in Doha was just incredible, saving many match points in multiple matches to reach the final. Ultimately, he lost to Medvedev in the final, but he picked up enough points to rise 18 places in the ATP rankings to number 52. This actually takes him above Jack Draper, meaning Murray is now the British number 3 – pretty cool.
And since I’ve mentioned Murray making the final, this naturally brings me to Daniil Medvedev. By beating Murray on Sunday, he has made it two tournament wins in as many weeks. In doing so, he only increased his rankings tally by 70 points, however, which is enough to take him up to number 7 in the world. Of course, there are more hard-court tournaments coming up too, so he could easily continue his current run of form and enter the top 5 pretty soon.
Besides these two guys, it was a pretty phenomenal week for both Bonzi and Zapata Miralles. Starting with Benjamin Bonzi, he has surged by 15 places, reaching a new position of 45 following his finals appearance in Marseille. But as impressive as this is, the official climber of the week is Zapata Miralles. This Spaniard was sensational in Rio de Janeiro, reaching the semi-finals before losing to the tournament winner, Cam Norrie.
In reaching the semi-finals, he has shot up from 63 in the world to number 42.
The Week’s Biggest Fallers – A rough ride for McDonald, Giron, and Nadal
Let me start this section by pulling your attention to Rafael Nadal. Given that the Spaniard is still away from the tour because of injury, he has lost points over the previous seven days. And while many are concerned about whether he will be fully fit in time for the Masters events in the USA, I have a feeling that Nadal will also be concerned about his ranking. In the last week alone, Nadal has dropped 2 spots by failing to defend points from 2022. He has slid by 2 positions to a new ranking of number 8, and the guys behind him are pretty close in points.
Yet besides the continued slide of Rafael Nadal, it has been a pretty howling week for the Americans too. As you can see, both Marcos Giron and Mackenzie McDonald have made it into the category that nobody wants to be in – the fallers of the week. And in terms of just how far these guys have slipped, McDonald has dropped 13 places this week to a new position of 62. As for Giron, it’s going from bad to worse, as he has fallen by 14 places to a new spot of 69.
Naturally, both of these guys will want to get back on track over the coming weeks, and there are several hard-court tournaments coming up – so they are in luck. However, they’ve still got to put in the required performances to move their ranking in the other direction.
Top Rankings Stories – Alcaraz Chasing Djokovic
I haven’t drawn attention to this development yet, but it’s definitely the main rankings story of the week, in my humble opinion. Since Carlos Alcaraz made the finals in Rio de Janeiro, he snapped up an extra 300 points to keep the chase for world number one thoroughly alive. And as a refresher, Novak Djokovic stole the world number one ranking from Alcaraz after he won the 2023 Australian Open.
However, as things currently stand, Djokovic has 6,980 points, whereas Alcaraz has 6,780 points. Needless to say, Alcaraz is nipping at the heels of Djokovic, and I have no doubts that he is eager to regain the top spot. But since Djokovic is now back on the court while there are some question marks about Alcaraz’s injury, this gap could be stretched further if Djokovic has a successful run in Dubai.
Either way, it’s undeniable that the chase is on, and I will be monitoring the developments in terms of their rankings points very closely.
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