Ranking Reaction: Alcaraz and Ruud rise to No. 1 and No. 2, Coco makes Top 10 debut

It’s official: the new ATP rankings are out, and 19-year-old Carlos Alcaraz has become the youngest man ever to reach No. 1, rising from his previous career-high of No. 4 to the top spot after capturing the first Grand Slam title of his career at the US Open.

He’s actually the first teenager ever to reach No. 1 on the ATP rankings.

YOUNGEST NO. 1s IN ATP RANKINGS HISTORY:

• Carlos Alcaraz: 19 years, 4 months [September 12, 2022]
• Lleyton Hewitt: 20 years, 9 months [November 19, 2001]
• Marat Safin: 20 years, 10 months [November 20, 2000]
• John McEnroe: 21 years, 1 month [March 3, 1980]
• Andy Roddick: 21 years, 2 months [November 3, 2003]

“I never thought that I was going to achieve something like that at 19 years old. So everything came so fast," Alcaraz said of becoming the US Open champion and No. 1.

“For me it’s unbelievable. It’s something I dreamed since I was a kid, since I started playing tennis. Of course, lifting this trophy today is amazing for me.”

Right behind him is Casper Ruud, who jumps from No. 7 to No. 2—soaring past his previous career-high of No. 5—after reaching his second Grand Slam final of the year at the US Open. He was also runner-up at Roland Garros, falling to Rafael Nadal.

At 19 and 23 years old, respectively, Alcaraz and Ruud are the second-youngest Top 2 in ATP rankings history, after Jimmy Connors and Bjorn Borg, who were 22 and 18, respectively, when they occupied the No. 1 and No. 2 spots in 1975.

There are many more notable moves up the ATP rankings this week: Karen Khachanov rises from No. 31 to No. 18, his first time in the Top 20 in more than a year and a half, after reaching his first major semifinal; American Frances Tiafoe rises from No. 26 to No. 19, his Top 20 debut, after reaching his first major semifinal; and Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios rises from No. 25 to No. 20, his first time in the Top 20 in two and a half years, after reaching his second straight Grand Slam quarterfinal.

Meanwhile, over on the WTA rankings, there are four very notable moves in the Top 10 alone: Wimbledon finalist Ons Jabeur rises from No. 5 back to her career-high of No. 2 after reaching her second straight Grand Slam final at the US Open; American Jessica Pegula moves up from No. 8 to No. 5, her Top 5 debut, after reaching her third major quarterfinal of the year; Coco Gauff rises from No. 12 to No. 8, her Top 10 debut, after making her first US Open quarterfinal; and former No. 4 Caroline Garcia jumps from No. 17 to No. 10 after reaching the first major semifinal of her career in New York.

At 18 years old, Gauff is the youngest woman to break into the Top 10 of the WTA rankings in more than 16 years, since a 17-year-old Nicole Vaidisova first cracked the elite in 2006. She's also the first American teenager to debut in the Top 10 since a 17-year-old Serena Williams first achieved the feat in 1999.

And further down the rankings, one of the biggest jumps of them all—whether or not she’ll play again, which we’re not fully sure of, Serena almost halves her ranking from No. 605 to No. 321 after her run to the third round of the US Open, where she took out the World No. 2, Anett Kontaveit, before falling to Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic.