American Learner Tien breaks into Top 20 on ATP rankings after run to fourth round of Rome

There are some very notable movers on the ATP rankings this week, including American Learner Tien breaking into the Top 20.

The 20-year-old Californian rises from No. 21 to No. 20 following his run to the fourth round of Rome, which wasn’t just his best career result at a Masters 1000 event on clay, it was actually the first time in his career that he’s won back-to-back matches on the surface.

As of now, his best results have all come on hard courts, including his first ATP title (Metz last year), another ATP final (Beijing last year), his best Grand Slam result (the quarterfinals of the Australian Open earlier this year) and his best Masters 1000 result (the quarterfinals of Indian Wells earlier this year).

But Tien is now finding his groove on other surfaces, without much to defend the rest of the clay season, or even the grass season.

He’s currently the No. 3-ranked American man, after Top 10 players Ben Shelton (No. 6) and Taylor Fritz (No. 8). Frances Tiafoe (No. 21) and Tommy Paul (No. 26) round out the U.S. men's Top 5.

The man who ended Tien’s run in Rome, Rafael Jodar, also makes waves this week, rising from No. 34 to No. 29 for his Top 30 debut.

With that, he also secures a seed for Roland Garros.

Jodar has gone from outside the Top 100 to inside the Top 30 just in this clay-court season alone—he left Miami with his Top 100 debut and hasn’t stopped rising, going 15-3 on clay to win his first ATP title in Marrakech, reach the semifinals of Barcelona and post back-to-back quarterfinal showings in Madrid and Rome.

The 19-year-old is now the highest-ranked teenager on the ATP rankings, just edging out another 19-year-old, Joao Fonseca, who’s No. 30. They’re actually the only two teenagers in the ATP Top 100.

Jodar will be making his career debut at Roland Garros next week.

Two more Rome standouts make notable moves this week: Luciano Darderi, who reached the biggest semifinal of his career at the Masters 1000 event, rises from No. 20 to No. 16, which doesn’t just surpass his previous career-high of No. 18, it also guarantees him a Top 16 seed for Roland Garros; and Casper Ruud, who reached the final in the Italian capital, jumps from No. 25 to No. 17, also securing a Top 16 seed in Paris given No. 2-ranked Carlos Alcaraz and No. 11-ranked Lorenzo Musetti’s injury withdrawals.

And last but certainly not least, Jannik Sinner continues to grow his lead at No. 1 after winning the title in Rome, increasing his ranking points total from 14,350 to 14,700. It’s the most ATP ranking points anyone has had at one time in almost a decade, since Novak Djokovic had 14,840 during the two weeks of the 2016 US Open.