By Roberto Ferri, translated by Kingsley Elliot Kaye
With his triumph at the Us Open, Carlos Alcaraz has soared to the very top of the ATP rankings, which was occupied by Daniil Medvedev until two weeks ago; he’s the 28th player to accomplish such feat since the ATP introduced the ranking system on 23 August 1973 based on the results the players achieve in the tournaments.
Tennis history enthusiasts may enjoy casting a glance at the Top 10 which came out on that date:
| Ranking | Player | Country |
| 1 | Ilie Nastase | Romania |
| 2 | Manuel Orantes | Spain |
| 3 | Stan Smith | USA |
| 4 | Arthur Ashe | USA |
| 5 | Rod Laver | Australia |
| 6 | Ken Rosewall | Australia |
| 7 | John Newcombe | Australia |
| 8 | Adriano Panatta | Italy |
| 9 | Tom Okker | Netherlands |
| 10 | Jimmy Connors | USA |
The current 10 best players in the world represent eight different countries and only one continent, Europe. Quite a striking difference compared with the six countries and the three continents present in the first ever ranking:
TOP 10
| Position | Player | Country | Pts | +/- |
| 1 | Alcaraz | Spain | 6740 | +3 |
| 2 | Ruud | Norway | 5850 | +5 |
| 3 | Nadal | Spain | 5810 | |
| 4 | Medvedev | Russia | 5065 | -3 |
| 5 | Zverev | Germany | 5040 | -3 |
| 6 | Tsitsipas | Greece | 4810 | -1 |
| 7 | Djokovic | Serbia | 3570 | -1 |
| 8 | Norrie | GB | 3550 | 1 |
| 9 | Rublev | Russia | 3390 | 2 |
| 10 | Hurkacz | Poland | 3355 |
These are the players ranked from 11 to 20:
| Position | Player | Country | Pts | +/- |
| 11 | Sinner | Italy | 3200 | 2 |
| 12 | Fritz | USA | 3055 | |
| 13 | Auger-Aliassime | Canada | 2950 | -5 |
| 14 | Carreno Busta | Spain | 2510 | 1 |
| 15 | Berrettini | Italy | 2360 | -1 |
| 16 | Cilic | Croatia | 2345 | 1 |
| 17 | Schwartzman | Argentina | 2110 | -1 |
| 18 | Khachanov | Russia | 1990 | 13 |
| 19 | Tiafoe | USA | 1940 | 7 |
| 20 | Kyrgios | Australia | 1780 | 5 |
A few comments:
- Carlos Alcaraz is the youngest number 1 in tennis history and the fourth Spaniard after Moya, Ferrero and Nadal.
- Felix Auger-Aliassime drops out of the top 10, as a result of his defeat to Jack Draper in the second round of the US Open.
- Karen Khachanov and Nick Kyrgios come back into the top 20 after quite a long absence. Frances Tiafoe joins the club for the first time.
- Jannik Sinner is just one step away from the top 10.
- Andrej Rublev is back in the top 10 just one month after falling out.
- Carlos Alcaraz, Casper Ruud, Cameron Norrie and Frances Tiafoe have achieved their best ever ranking.
- The top 10 players in the world are European.
NITTO ATP FINALS RACE TO TURIN
The Nitto ATP Finals will take off on 13 November. It will feature the 8 best players of the ongoing season and two reserves. The ranking based on the points earned in 2022 is led by Carlos Alcaraz. Here are the top 15.
| Position | Player | Country | Pts |
| 1 | Alcaraz | Spain | 6460 |
| 2 | Nadal | Spain | 5810 |
| 3 | Ruud | Norway | 4885 |
| 4 | Tsitsipas | Greece | 4630 |
| 5 | Medvedev | Russia | 3375 |
| 6 | Rublev | Russia | 3055 |
| 7 | Auger-Aliassime | Canada | 2680 |
| 8 | Zverev | Germany | 2700 |
| 9 | Hurkacz | Poland | 2545 |
| 10 | Fritz | USA | 2385 |
| 11 | Norrie | GB | 2320 |
| 12 | Carreno Busta | Spagna | 2270 |
| 13 | Berrettini | Italia | 2225 |
| 14 | Sinner | Italia | 2220 |
| 15 | Djokovic | Serbia | 1970 |
Carlos Alcaraz, Rafael Nadal Casper Ruud and Stefanos Tsitsipas have already mathematically qualified; Novak Djokovic, as a slam winner will just have to be in the first 20 in order to qualify.
We take it for granted that the Serbian will be present in Turin. Five places (including the two reserves) are still to be booked. Ten players will be battling over the next two months: from Daniil Medvedev to Jannik Sinner.
BEST RANKING
Here are the players in the Top 100 who are celebrating their career highest. Among them are two Brits: Cameron Norrie and Jack Draper. A double applause goes to Nuno Borges and Hugo Grenier who make their debut. And a triple applause to Carlos Alcaraz, new Number 1.
| Player | Position | Country |
| Alcaraz | 1 | Spain |
| Ruud | 2 | Norway |
| Norrie | 8 | GB |
| Tiafoe | 19 | USA |
| Paul | 29 | USA |
| Draper | 46 | GB |
| Cachin | 58 | Argentina |
| Wolf | 72 | USA |
| Galan | 76 | Colombia |
| Borges | 93 | Portugal |
| Grenier | 95 | France |
