Ranking Reaction: Taylor Fritz breaks into Top 10 at No. 8, Novak Djokovic kicks off 200th straight week in Top 10

The winners of last week’s two ATP 500 events both set big milestones on the new ATP rankings today, with Tokyo champion Taylor Fritz making his Top 10 debut and Astana champion Novak Djokovic kicking off his 200th straight week in the Top 10.

Fritz, who captured his third title of the year in Tokyo, having already won titles in Indian Wells and Eastbourne, rises from No. 11 to No. 8, his Top 10 debut.

The 24-year-old American was guaranteed to move into the Top 10 just by reaching the final in the Japanese capital, but by going on to capture the title (and with how everything played out in Astana), he goes all the way up to No. 8.

“It means so much,” he said. “Top 10 is always one of those goals you have as a kid. Growing up, it’s a massive milestone. Obviously I want more, I want to go even higher, but, I mean, Top 10 is just a huge achievement that you always dream of.

“And no one can ever take it away from me—I was a Top 10 player.”

Since ATP rankings began in 1973, Fritz is the 36th American man in the Top 10.

The last time an American man was in the Top 10 was during the two weeks of Roland Garros in 2019—May 27th to June 9th, 2019—when John Isner was ranked No. 10. The last time an American man was ranked as high as No. 8 was also Isner, when he reached his career-high ranking of No. 8 for one week, the week of July 16, 2018, right after reaching his first Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon.

Fritz is the first American man to make their Top 10 debut since Jack Sock in November 2017 (Isner made his Top 10 debut in 2012).

And the way things are going, there could be another American man in the Top 10 soon. Frances Tiafoe rises from No. 19 to a new career-high of No. 17 on the new ATP rankings after reaching the final of Tokyo, where he finished runner-up to Fritz.

Djokovic, who won his fourth ATP title of the year in Astana, Kazakhstan this past week, stays put at No. 7 on the ATP rankings this week. But it’s still a big milestone, as this is his 200th consecutive week in the Top 10—and his 755th overall.

His first 555 weeks in the Top 10 came in one chunk between March 19th, 2007, after he reached his first Masters 1000 final at Indian Wells, and November 5th, 2017, when he had already been off the tour for four months due to an elbow injury.

These 200 weeks, his second stint in the Top 10, began on July 16th, 2018, when he jumped from No. 21 to No. 10 after winning his first Grand Slam title since his elbow injury lay-off at Wimbledon. This chunk of weeks doesn’t include the 22 weeks the ATP rankings were frozen in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Djokovic’s 200 weeks in a row is the third-longest active streak of consecutive weeks in the Top 10, after Rafael Nadal (who’s been in the Top 10 every week for more than 17 years) and current No. 6 Alexander Zverev, who’s actually kicking off his milestone 250th consecutive week in the Top 10 today.

Finally, there are a few notable moves near the top of the WTA rankings this week, too: Barbora Krejcikova jumps from No. 23 to No. 14 after winning the second-biggest title of her career at the WTA 500 event in Ostrava, Czech Republic, her first time in the Top 15 since Wimbledon; and Ekaterina Alexandrova makes her Top 20 debut, rising from No. 21 to No. 20 after reaching the semifinals in Ostrava.