Taylor Fritz rises to new career-high ranking of No. 4 following run to final of ATP Finals

The Californian is the first American man to be ranked in the Top 4 since Andy Roddick in August of 2007.

Published Nov 18, 2024

ATP FINALS HIGHLIGHTS: Taylor Fritz takes down Alexander Zverev again in semis

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There’s some big news for American tennis today, as Taylor Fritz rises from No. 5 to a new career-high of No. 4 following his run to the final of the ATP Finals, where he was the first American to reach the final of the event since James Blake in 2006.

That wasn’t the first drought he ended this year—at the US Open, he became the first American man to reach a Grand Slam final since Andy Roddick at Wimbledon in 2009.

They were the two biggest finals of Fritz’s career so far.

And today, the Californian becomes the first American man to be ranked in the Top 4 since the week of August 13th, 2007, when Roddick was No. 4 (behind the Big 3).

Fritz, who was born in 1997, is also the first U.S. man born in 1990 or later to reach the Top 4—and just the second U.S. man born in 1980 or later to do it, after Roddick, who was born in 1982.

He’s the 17th American to reach the Top 4 in ATP rankings history.

AMERICAN MEN TO REACH ATP TOP 4 (since 1973):

No. 1s: Connors, McEnroe, Courier, Sampras, Agassi, Roddick
No. 2s: Ashe, Chang
No. 3s: Smith, Gottfried, Gerulaitis
No. 4s: Tanner, Mayer, Gilbert, Martin, Blake, Fritz

(note: former No. 1 Ivan Lendl fell out of the Top 4 before switching his representation to the United States)

Fritz is one of only three men to have 10 or more Top 10 wins this year, alongside Sinner and Alcaraz.

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Fritz may have finished runner-up to world No. 1 Jannik Sinner at the ATP Finals, but he scored one of the biggest wins of his career in the semifinals against world No. 2 Alexander Zverev.

And Zverev also celebrates a milestone this week—this is the German’s 200th career week in the Top 5 of the ATP rankings.

He first broke into the Top 5 as a 20-year-old on September 11th, 2017, after that year’s US Open, and he’s spent more than half of the time since then in the elite, peaking at No. 2.

ZVEREV'S 200 CAREER WEEKS IN THE TOP 5:

99 weeks (September 11, 2017 to August 4, 2019)
65 weeks (July 12, 2021 to October 9, 2022)
36 weeks (March 18, 2024 to present)

This week is his 19th career week at his career-high of No. 2.

A lot to be proud of for finalist @Taylor_Fritz97 👏#NittoATPFinals pic.twitter.com/d7YxnBGXXU
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) November 17, 2024

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