ATP Rankings: Young stars reap rewards of Australian Open breakthroughs

Rising new talents burst into top 100 while Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner maintains his stranglehold on the No 1 ATP ranking

Joao Fonseca, Australian Open, 2025 © Imago / Psnewz

Jamie Malachy

January 27, 2025

Teenage talents that grabbed headlines at this year’s Australian Open have seen the fruit of their labours rewarded with significant rises up the ATP rankings this week.

Brazilian sensation Joao Fonseca has surged 13 places to break into the top 100 for the first time in his career. The 18-year-old has become the youngest member of the ATP’s top 100 since Carlos Alcaraz in October 2021 and is the youngest Brazilian to do so in ATP rankings history.

Fellow teenager Learner Tien has also made his debut appearance in the top 100, with the American’s superb run to the fourth round in Melbourne earning him 214 points and a huge 41-place jump up the ladder to sit at the lofty heights of world No 80.

tommy paul makes top-10 debut as medvedev drops

Another notable move, this time nearer the summit of the rankings, belongs to Tommy Paul. An impressive run to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open has seen the American crack the top 10 for the first time, moving up two places to sit at a career-best No 9 in the world courtesy of a healthy 300 points gained down under.

Paul’s compatriot Ben Shelton enjoyed a stellar Australian Open, reaching his second Grand Slam semi-final to earn a significant surge of six places up the rankings to 14th with 700 points gained in Melbourne.

However, having reached the final last year only to fall in the second round to the teenage Tien in 2025, Daniil Medvedev has suffered an expensive 1250-point drop and fell two places from 5th to 7th as a result.

Those to benefit from the Russian’s dip were Casper Ruud and Novak Djokovic – both of whom enjoyed a rise of one ranking position to leapfrog Medvedev, despite Ruud’s early second-round exit in Australia.

Two-time Australian Open champion and world No 1 Jannik Sinner, meanwhile, maintains a huge lead at the top of the ATP rankings with a gulf between himself and second-placed Alexander Zverev of 3695 points. This is despite the German actually cutting the deficit at the top by 500 points after he improved on his 2024 semi-final finish in Melbourne by reaching the final this year.

Alcaraz, having matched his last-eight berth from last season, remains comfortably in third place as the top four – completed by American Taylor Fritz – all remain in the same positions after the season’s opening Grand Slam.