Having recently turned 17, German tennis talent Justin Engel started the week among the top 500 in the world. A milestone has now once again underlined what Engel is capable of – and given him the next mega set in the ATP ranking.
If you limit the tennis world rankings to players under 18, Justin Engel is by far number one in the world. As number 458, he is more than 200 places ahead of the Italian Federico Cina, who is the second best U18 player at 681st.
In recent weeks, however, Engel has primarily celebrated success in smaller tournaments, of which he has already won four in 2024. Now the first appearance at ATP level followed.
Thanks to a wildcard, Justin Engel reached the first round of the ATP tournament in Almaty, Kazakhstan. An opportunity that the Nuremberg player took advantage of in an impressive manner: in just over 1:30 hour, the German put Coleman Wong from Hong Kong in his place with 7:5 and 6:4. His opponent started the tournament as number 133 in the world rankings.
“It’s unbelievable”
“It’s incredible. Winning an ATP match at 17 is the best feeling I can imagine. I have no words. I love playing here, that’s why I won,” said Engel, who spoke with follows in the footsteps of a superstar after his victory.
Engel is the youngest match winner on the ATP tour since Carlos Alcaraz in 2020. Alcaraz has now won four Grand Slams and led the world rankings for 36 weeks.
In the round of 16 of the $1,117,465 tournament, however, Engel now faces an enormous hurdle: number four seeded Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo. If the top talent also holds his own against the number 31 in the world, the headlines are likely to explode.
However, it is already clear that Engel will make the next jump in the ATP rankings. A place in the top 400 is even on the horizon.
Engel only made his first really big exclamation point at the beginning of October when he reached the quarterfinals of the Challenger tournament in Villena (Spain) and beat, among others, Luca Van Assche from France, the current number 119 in the world.
