Popyrin and Purcell make huge jumps in ATP rankings this week

Novak Djokovic should be celebrating right now. Yes, he lost to Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon in July, but Djokovic came back to defeat Alcaraz in the final at the Western and Southern Open on Sunday and Djokovic is now just 20 points away from regaining the number 1 ranking on the ATP tour. But Alexei Popyrin and Max Purcell should also be celebrating their rankings jump this week.

Aussie Popyrin and Purcell took the biggest leaps within the top 100 ATP rankings. Popyrin has been playing some excellent tennis for the last two months. He won the Umag Open in late July and defeated Stan Wawrinka in the final. Last week at the Cincinnati Open, Popyrin made the quarterfinals before losing to Hubert Hurkacz. Popyrin actually lost in the qualifying rounds but became a lucky loser and got into the main draw.

The Aussie moved up 18 spots to number 40. 40 is the highest ranking of the 24-year-old’s career and he seems to have finally figured out what works best with his game. He might not be a favorite at the US Open, but a deep run at the tournament is not out of the question.

Aussies Popyrin and Purcell make big jumps in ATP ranking this week

Popyrin’s fellow Aussie, Max Purcell, made an even bigger jump this week in the rankings. Purcell moved up from 69 to 43 and that last number is his career-high as well. Purcell has a losing record still in 2023 at 6-11, but he also just played his best tennis of the year last week at Cincinnati.

Purcell made the quarterfinals before losing to Carlos Alcaraz in three tough sets. The Aussie actually defeated Alexei Popyrin in the qualifying rounds in Cincinnati and before losing to Alcaraz, Purcell defeated seventh-ranked Casper Ruud.

Speaking of Ruud, he bounced back into the top five this week from number 7. Holger Rune also moved up one spot in the top five to number four. Meanwhile, Stefanos Tsitsipas tumbled from number 4 to number 7.