Tennis – From Rune’s top 10 to the top run, all the numbers of the week

With the masterpiece signed in the final of Paris-Bercy, in front of the former absolute monarch Novak Djokovic, Holger Rune bursts into the top 10 and presents himself as the first reserve for the ATP Finals in Turin starting from Sunday 13 at Pala Alpitour. Rune is now the 180th top 10 in the history of the ATP, the fourth of the year to join this restricted club after Cameron Norrie, Carlos Alcaraz and Taylor Fritz, but above all the first Dane ever to do so.

The age

—

At 19 years, 6 months and 9 days, Rune is the third youngest top 10 of the last 20 years after the Spaniards Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz: the Majorcan became one for the first time in April 2005 after the historic victory in Monte Carlos on the Argentine Guillermo Coria, the second instead became the second this year after the success in Barcelona on the Spanish Pablo Carreno Busta. The victory at Bercy allows Rune, also by virtue of Carlos Alcaraz’s resignation due to injury, to become the first reserve for the ATP Finals in Turin. The last of the qualifiers, Taylor Fritz, number 9 of the race with 2955 points, has only 44 points more than Rune who closes in tenth position with 2911 points. The second reserve for Turin will be the Polish Hubert Hurkacz.

The race for number 1

—

With no more Alcaraz, the race for the first position in the ranking at the end of the year also reopens. At the moment the possible number 1 at the end of the year are Carlos Alcaraz with 6820 points, Rafael Nadal with 5820 and Stefanos Tsitsipas with 5350. Rafa is not enough to recover the 1000 points gap, because if he were tied with Alcaraz, it would be the latter. the number 1 at the end of the year for scoring more points in the Grand Slams and Masters 1000. Rafa, to become number 1 at the end of the year for the sixth time after 2008, 2010, 2013, 2017 and 2019, should necessarily win the tournament also with 2 defeats in the first group stage. In fact, in Turin 200 points are awarded for each match won, 400 for the semifinal won and 500 for the final. But Rafa, who has never won the Masters at the end of the year, seems very far from the best form. Tsitsipas, who has already won the Masters in 2019, has 1470 points to catch up and the only way to do that is to win the tournament without suffering loss. Difficult undertaking, but not impossible. He would still be an unexpected number 1 after a decidedly colorless season. In the 2022 Grand Slams Tsitsipas won the semifinal in Australia, the round of 16 in Paris, the third round at Wimbledon and did not pass the first round at the US Open. Modest results for a player who could become number 1 by winning the last 5 games of the season.