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To interrupt the High 10 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings is to grow to be a part of an unique group of gamers within the historical past of males’s skilled tennis. Solely 181 males have managed the feat throughout 5 many years, reflecting the issue of the achievement.
Even inside such an unique membership, some memberships nonetheless stand out. ATPTour.com continues its celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings with a take a look at among the most notable High 10 data in historical past.
High 10 Longevity
9 hundred and twelve consecutive weeks. That’s how lengthy Rafael Nadal lived contained in the High 10 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, rising into the High 10 for the primary time on twenty fourth April 2005 on the age of 18, a month earlier than capturing his first Roland Garros title. Fourteen trophies later on the clay-court main and the Spaniard lastly left the High 10 on twenty first March 2023.
For a lot of his 18 years within the High 10, Nadal was No. 1 or No. 2, although there have been a number of shut calls, notably when he was injured. In the summertime of 2015 he lived dangerously at No. 10 however slid no additional south, and within the winter of 2016-17, he dipped to No. 9 however was No. 1 by the top of the yr.
“I’ve confronted points when it comes to accidents throughout totally different elements of my profession,” mentioned Nadal after passing Jimmy Connors’ then-record mark of 789 consecutive weeks within the High 10 in November 2020. “However I all the time maintain the fervour and the like to hold doing what I do, which is to play tennis.”
Nadal’s constant presence for thus lengthy among the many ATP Tour’s elite is a mirrored image of his relentlessness in each recreation, set and match by which he has competed throughout his profession. That unwavering resilience is an attribute that additionally outlined American nice Connors, whose High 10 keep lasted from 1973 till 1988.
Behind Nadal and Connors on the all-time listing of longest streaks contained in the High 10 are Roger Federer, Ivan Lendl and Pete Sampras. All three additionally remained a member of the ATP Tour’s elite for greater than a decade.
Most Consecutive Weeks In High 10 Of Pepperstone ATP Rankings
| Participant | Consecutive Weeks |
| Rafael Nadal | 912 (2005-23) |
| Jimmy Connors | 789 (1973-88) |
| Roger Federer | 734 (2002-16) |
| Ivan Lendl | 619 (1980-92) |
| Pete Sampras | 565 (1990-2001) |
Most High 10 Finishes
Roger Federer in motion on the 2018 Nitto ATP Finals in London. Picture Credit score: Peter Staples/ATP Tour.
The Roger Federer vs. Rafael Nadal story was about greater than two greats racking up excellent numbers on the ATP Tour. Years of memorable factors, matches and off-court moments helped forge one of many biggest rivalries that tennis — and the broader world of sport — has ever seen.
But an in depth take a look at Federer and Nadal’s respective journeys within the Pepperstone ATP Rankings is required to completely comprehend their achievements over the course of practically twenty years. The pair shares the report for essentially the most High 10 year-end finishes with 18, an illustration of simply how everlasting their membership of the ATP Tour’s elite got here to be.
Extra in-depth evaluation exhibits these had been much less tales of High 10 consistency than High 10 domination. Each gamers completed within the High 5 for a joint-record 16 of their 18 years. When it comes year-end finishes within the High 3, Federer (15) edges Nadal (14), with Novak Djokovic tied with the Spaniard in second place on that listing. For High 2 finishes, Nadal (13) leads the best way forward of Federer (11) and Djokovic (10).
Djokovic, who holds the report for many year-end No. 1 finishes (7) and most total weeks spent at No. 1 (389), is fifth on the listing of most High 10 finishes with 15, one shy of American legends Andre Agassi and Connors. Presently No. 2 within the Pepperstone ATP Rankings with simply over three months left of the 2023 season, nonetheless, the Serbian is already set to match these previous greats’ tally of 16.
Most 12 months-Finish High 10 Finishes In Pepperstone ATP Rankings
| Participant | High 10 Finishes |
| Roger Federer | 18 (2002-15, 2017-20) |
| Rafael Nadal | 18 (2005-22) |
| Andre Agassi | 16 (1988-92, 1994-96, 1998-2005) |
| Jimmy Connors | 16 (1973-88) |
| Novak Djokovic | 15 (2007-16, 2018-22) |
High 10 Teenagers
Aaron Krickstein is the youngest man to interrupt the High 10 in Pepperstone ATP Rankings historical past. Picture Credit score: Allsport
American Aaron Krickstein captured 9 tour-level titles and rose to a career-high No. 6 within the Pepperstone ATP Rankings throughout a storied 13-year profession. His biggest achievement arguably got here throughout the early phases, when he cracked the High 10 for the primary time aged 17 years and 11 days in 1984.
No one has damaged into the High 10 at a youthful age than Krickstein, who additionally stays the youngest tour-level titlist in historical past along with his 1983 triumph in Tel Aviv on the age of 16 years and two months.
Krickstein is one in every of 21 youngsters to have cracked the High 10 within the 50 years for the reason that Pepperstone ATP Rankings started. Michael Chang is the second youngest at 17 years, three months and 19 days. The American received his first and solely main at Roland Garros in 1989, breaking the High 10 in the identical yr.
Third-youngest Boris Becker additionally reached that milestone off the again of saying himself to the world with a surprising main triumph. The German rose contained in the High 10 in 1985 aged 17 years, seven months and 16 days, climbing from No. 20 to No. 8 after turning into the youngest man to win Wimbledon.
Breaking into the High 10 requires a uncommon mixture of expertise, self-discipline, and perception when taking over the perfect. It’s a tough mixture of substances to develop at a younger age, maybe mirrored within the 15-year look ahead to a teenage High 10 entrant after Andy Murray hit that milestone in April 2007. Cue the 2022 season, when not one, however two, new children emerged on the High 10 block: Carlos Alcaraz and Holger Rune.
Youngest Gamers To Break High 10 Of Pepperstone ATP Rankings
| Participant | Age |
| Aaron Krickstein | 17 years, 11 days |
| Michael Chang | 17 years, 3 months, 19 days |
| Boris Becker | 17 years, 7 months, 16 days |
| Mats Wilander | 17 years, 10 months, 21 days |
| Bjorn Borg | 17 years, 11 months, 27 days |
All Change In The High 10
Frances Tiafoe in motion in Toronto in 2023. Picture Credit score: Mike Lawrence/ATP Tour
The set of gamers that makes up the High 10 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings is sort of always evolving, though not all the time on the identical velocity.
A very tumultuous yr for the unique membership was 2006, when eight gamers, together with future World No. 3 David Ferrer and future No. 4s James Blake and Tomas Berdych, reached the High 10 for the primary time. That continues to be the best variety of new High 10 entrants in a single season* and it introduced the tally of recent High 10 gamers to 14 within the area of two years after six gamers, together with future No. 1 Nadal, hit the milestone in 2005.
A more moderen surge of contemporary High 10 expertise got here in 2019. Six present ATP Tour stars could have fond recollections of that yr, together with Daniil Medvedev (a future No. 1), Stefanos Tsitsipas (the primary Greek High 10 participant) and Matteo Berrettini, as they cracked the High 10 for the primary time.
These years of mass change within the High 10 stand in stark distinction to different current intervals in Pepperstone ATP Rankings historical past. The report eight gamers who broke the High 10 in 2006 is identical quantity that achieved the feat throughout 5 seasons from 2012 to 2016. Only one participant cracked the High 10 for the primary time in 2013 (Milos Raonic), 2015 (Kevin Anderson) and 2016 (Dominic Thiem).
A milestone solely reached by gamers in a position to mix excessive efficiency with week-in, week-out consistency, simply 181 gamers have reached the High 10 in 50 years of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. The 181st of them, American Frances Tiafoe, summed up the psychological and emotional enhance of his newfound standing in June 2023.
“[I am] a man who should not even actually be right here doing half the issues he is doing. And now whenever you say his title, you may say he is High 10 on the planet,” mentioned Tiafoe. “[That is] one thing that nobody can take from you and I’ll keep in mind that without end. And hopefully, I can trip that for a very long time.”
*Data solely obtainable from the yr 2000
Years With Most First-Time High 10 Breakthroughs (Since 2000)
| 12 months | High 10 Breakthroughs |
| 2006: | 8 (D. Ferrer, J. Blake, F. Gonzalez, T. Robredo, M. Ancic, R. Stepanek, M. Baghdatis, T. Berdych) |
| 2005: | 6 (J. Johansson, R. Nadal, G. Canas, N. Davydenko, M. Puerta, I. Ljubicic) |
| 2019: | 6 (S. Tsitsipas, Okay. Khachanov, F. Fognini, D. Medvedev, R. Bautista Agut, M. Berrettini) |
View all 28 No. 1s within the 50-year historical past of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.
Notable No. 1s In 50 Years Of Pepperstone ATP Rankings (Half 1)
Notable No. 1s In 50 Years Of Pepperstone ATP Rankings (Half 2)
Greatest Rises & Revivals In Pepperstone ATP Rankings Historical past
First Amongst Equals: World No. 1 Document Breakers & Shakers
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