After the closing of the Turin ATP Finalsin which Novak Djokovic he added his sixth “Master” title and remained, along with Federer, as the tournament’s top winner; the ATP published a new ranking update that will go down in history. Because of For the first time since the creation of the classification in 1973, two Spaniards occupy the first places at the end of a season. And they are, precisely, the two most dominant rackets this year: the new phenomenon of world tennis, Carlos Alcarazand the champion with the most Grand Slam titles, Rafael Nadal.
Argentine tennis, meanwhile, has seven representatives among the 100 best, with Diego Schwartzman (25° to the head). In that first hundred, there are three NextGen names, Francisco Cerundolo, Sebastian Baez y Thomas Etcheverrywhich confirms the good moment of this new generation, which does not stop growing.
If we are talking about the elite, Alcaraz closed as number “1” -he is the youngest to finish a season in that position-, with 6,820 points. The 19-year-old from Murcia was one of the most winners of this 2022, in which he won five titles, the US Open (his first big one), the Masters 1000 of Miami y Madrid and the ATPs of Rio de Janeiro y Barcelona. Although he missed the Turin tournament due to injury.
Nadal escorts him with 6,020 units. The 36-year-old Spaniard swept the first half of the year, with consecrations in Melbournethe Australian Open, acapulco y Roland Garros (where he reached his 22nd Grand Slam) and was close to climbing back to the top of the ranking. But the injuries -especially that chronic one that he suffers in his left foot- and his recent paternity led him to put together a reduced calendar and it was not enough for him to recover the “1”.
It is the first time since 1996 that two players from the same country occupy the first two places in the ranking at the end of a season. 26 years ago, those who closed the year on a high were the Americans Pete Sampras y Michael Chang.
The top 5 is completed by the Norwegian Casper Ruudwho after reaching the final in Turin displaced Stefanos Tsitsipas and was third, with 5,820; the Greek, fourth with 5,550; and Djokovic, who climbed three positions thanks to his crowning at the ATP Finals and is fifth, with 4,820.
The Serb closed a complicated 2022 with a smile, in which his refusal to vaccinate against Covid-19 it marginalized him from several big events (Australia and New York, among them) and cost him first place in the ranking. But he took advantage of the little he played, especially in the last stretch of the season: he played 12 tournaments, won 5 (Roma, Wimbledon -that did not distribute points-, Tel Aviv, Astana y Turin; he was the one who added the most titles along with Alcaraz) and reached two other finals (Belgrade and Paris-Bercy).
In addition, last week he received good news: the Australian government lifted the ban on receiving his visa (which weighed on him due to his deportation last January) and opened the door for him to play Melbourne again. Thus, he will arrive at the first Major of 2023 as the great candidate and with a concrete chance to return to the top: the point difference with Alcaraz is exactly 2,000, the amount he could add if he shouts champion in the oceanic contest.
Behind Nole appear the Canadian Very happy Auger (6th), the Russians Daniil Medvedev (7°) y Andrey Rublev (8th), the American Taylor Fritz and the polish Hubert Hurkacz (10°).
It is worth remembering that although there are still some tournaments to be played that will distribute points, they are appointments of the Challenger Tour and of the ITF World Tourwhich will not generate movements in the first positions.
The Argentines
Diego Schwartzman He finished for the fourth consecutive year as the highest ranked Argentine and, beyond having had a season of many ups and downs and not having won any titles, he managed to remain among the best in the standings.
The smallfinalist in Buenos Aires and Rio, is in 25th position, his worst position since finishing 26th in 2017. Although the regularity of the man from Buenos Aires must be highlighted, he closed for the last time a year outside the top 100 in 2013 (117 °).
Among the best albiceleste players, the biggest promotion of the week was that of Facundo Bagniswho after reaching the final of the challenger of Sao Leopoldoin Brazil (lost to the Peruvian John Paul Varillas), climbed ten places and returned to the top 100.
The 32-year-old from Rosario is 93rd and is the last national representative in the top 100, behind Schwartzman, Francisco Cerundolo (30°), Sebastian Baez (43°), Pedro Cachín (54°), Frederick Coria (67°) y Thomas Etcheverry (80°).
The Argentines
The great performances of Lourdes Carle, Paula Ormaechea y Nadia Podoroska in the Argentina Open female, the tournament WTA 125 that was played last week in Buenos Aires, allowed these players to hit good jumps in the WTA ranking, which is led by the Polish Every Swiatek.
Carlé, who lost in the semifinals, climbed 13th places and ranks 147th. Ormaechea, who had just won an ITF in Tucumán and was also a semifinalist, rose 21st and closed a very positive season in sports as the 164th. And Podoroska, who was fired in the round of 16, climbed 12, finished 193rd and returned to the top 200, a big step in her recovery process after two years complicated by injuries.
They are the only players from our country among the top 200. Further back they appear Julia Riera (270ª), Martina Capurro Taborda (416ª), Jasmine Ortensi (441ª) y solana sierra (460ª).
