In the wake of the main ATP events ending with Paris, there have been fewer moves amongst the very top players in the last weeks of the season. Nevertheless, challenger events and the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals have resulted in moves that will likely affect outcomes for next season’s Australian Open.
Milos Raonic: Up from No.4 to No.3. An excellent World Tour Finals display. Wins against Gael Monfils and Dominic Thiem helped him reach the semi-finals, where he put up a real fight against Andy Murray in the longest three-set match of Murray’s career. He replaces Stan Wawrinka who could not match his semi-final run from last year, winning just one of his three group matches.
Marin Cilic: Up from No.7 to No.6. Won just the one match in London, against Kei Nishikori, but it was enough to take him above Gael Monfils who swaps places with Cilic after the Frenchman pulled out with a rib injury having lost his first two matches.
Dominic Thiem: Up from No.9 to No.8. Like Cilic won just one match at the World Tour Finals, but it was enough for him to build a 115 points lead over Rafael Nadal. This move should it stay this way could have a serious impact on the seedings for Australian Open as, if Nadal is to stay seeded ninth, he will be seeded to face one of the top eight as early as the fourth round in Melbourne.
The rest of the movers are the results of Challenger titles or performances.
Diego Schartzmann: Up from No.58 to No.52. The titlist in Montevideo, Schartzmann adds to the Barranquilla title he won early in the season, collecting 90 points after beating Rogerio Dutra Silva in the final. Guido Pella moves from No.59 to No.72
Taylor Fritz drops to No.77 after he elected not to defend the finalist points he earned from Champaign last season. He plays this week in Columbus as the top seed.
James Duckworth put himself in a strong position to avoid qualifying for the Australian Open. The Aussie moved up to No.104 after winning the Toyota Challenger. He may have been awarded a wildcard anyway, but it might mean the Australian Tennis Federation can look to select someone else if Duckworth can get into the main draw on his own merits.
In comparison, Taro Daniel (No.126) and Tatsumo Ito (No.125) suffered drops of nineteen places and twelve places respectively, ensuring that only a strong performance in the last events this year and the first events of 2017 could help them avoid the qualifying draw.
