These Australians are about to hit a tennis peak that hasn’t been reached in 10 years

3 months ago 23

Alex de Minaur could still leapfrog grand slam legend Novak Djokovic and even match his career-high ranking of No.6 before the US Open despite losing his Toronto Masters quarter-final.

De Minaur’s serve let him down on Wednesday (AEST) as he succumbed 6-3, 6-4 to fellow top-10 star Ben Shelton at the first of back-to-back Masters 1000 tournaments ahead of the hardcourt major in New York.

Alexei Popyrin, Bernard Tomic and Alex de Minaur.

This past week has been one of the most significant in some time for Australian men’s tennis after de Minaur already captured the Washington title right before it.

It started with Alexei Popyrin brushing off a difficult season to upset top-15 rivals Daniil Medvedev and Holger Rune in consecutive matches in Toronto before exiting in three sets to world No.3 Alexander Zverev in the quarter-finals on Tuesday.

Popyrin’s victory over Rune ensured he will make his top-20 debut on Monday.

But it also limited the pending damage to his ranking – and kept alive his hopes of being seeded at this month’s US Open – as the 1000 points from his Canadian Open triumph last year prepare to drop off on August 18.

The 25-year-old is set to become the seventh Australian man this century, behind Pat Rafter, Lleyton Hewitt, Mark Philippoussis, Nick Kyrgios, Bernard Tomic and de Minaur, to be ranked inside the top 20.

Popyrin and de Minaur will be the first Australians ranked simultaneously in the ATP Tour top 20 since Kyrgios and Tomic on August 29, 2016. Kyrgios and de Minaur narrowly missed doing that together several times.

Before that, Hewitt and Philippoussis were the last to achieve the feat on June 28, 2004, so it is rare in this country, even if it will be a short stay for Popyrin.

“It won’t be for long ... it’s going to be in and out for me,” Popyrin said. “[But] overall, my level is there. I haven’t felt like this all year, which is nice. I feel like I’m slowly starting to build something.”

Alexei Popyrin’s quarter-final run in Toronto was significant for his ranking.

The Canadian Open was held earlier this year as part of changes to the American hardcourt calendar, with the tennis rankings operating on a revolving 12-month basis, so Popyrin’s slide is still to come.

He needs to perform strongly at the Cincinnati Masters if he is to be seeded at a fourth grand slam this year. Popyrin’s points from Cincinnati last year will also come off on August 18, but he lost in the first round in 2024, so it is only 10 more points for a total of 1100.

For context, his points on Monday will be 2250, so they could be slashed almost in half by the following week.

Popyrin has a first-round bye in Cincinnati but risks slumping into the 40s if he loses in the second round – but it would have been worse if not for his Toronto heroics after he entered with a 12-16 record in 2025.

To stay within the top-32 seeding range for the US Open, he must reach the Cincinnati semi-finals at minimum, where Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are the top seeds.

Popyrin did de Minaur a favour by beating Rune, who is duelling with the latter for a top-eight seeding in New York, which guarantees players will not face a higher-ranked opponent until at least the quarter-finals.

As opposed to Popyrin, de Minaur has no points to defend before the US Open because a hip injury sidelined him from the two Masters 1000 tournaments last year, so he is only adding to his tally.

Russia’s Karen Khachanov must win the Toronto title to push de Minaur to No.9 in next week’s rankings, but the Australian is more likely to remain at No.8.

De Minaur might not be done climbing the rankings.

Djokovic, who is ranked sixth ahead of Shelton and de Minaur, did not play in Toronto and is skipping Cincinnati, too. De Minaur will equal the 24-time major champion’s ranking points if he reaches the Cincinnati semi-finals, and surpass him if he makes the final or claims the title.

“The goal is to come out and compete and do well in the Masters,” de Minaur told this masthead.

“There is a big opportunity for me because I’m defending no points, so if I can get some good results, I can be in a very good spot.”

The Toronto quarter-final runs from Popyrin and de Minaur coincided with Tomic, at age 32, advancing to the Lexington Challenger final on Monday.

The former world No.17 will be at his highest ranking in five years next week – somewhere in the 180s – which will earn him direct ranking into qualifying at every grand slam, including the 2026 Australian Open.

Meanwhile, Lorenzo Musetti, Rune, Khachanov, Marin Cilic, Matteo Berrettini, Kei Nishikori, Alexander Bublik and Bu Yunchaokete have committed to play at the Kooyong Classic from January 13-15.

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