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ATPWorldTour.com looks at the top Movers of the Week in the ATP Race To London, as of Monday, 24 September 2018

No. 7 Dominic Thiem, +1
Dominic Thiem improved his chances of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held at The O2 in London from 11-18 November, after capturing his first hard-court title in over two and a half years at the St. Petersburg Open. Read More & Watch Highlights

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Thiem dropped only one set en route to his first indoor tour-level trophy, defeating Jan-Lennard Struff, Daniil Medvedev, Roberto Bautista Agut and Martin Klizan en route to the title. This year's Roland Garros runner-up, who leads the ATP World Tour with 48 victories this season (48-15), has picked up three trophies in 2018, having previously triumphed on clay in Buenos Aires and Lyon.

Thiem is attempting to qualify for the third straight year and join Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer at the season finale.

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No. 28 Gilles Simon, +11
After two seasons on the ATP World Tour without a title run in 2016 and 2017, Gilles Simon captured his second crown of the season at the Moselle Open. The Frenchman, who lifted the Tata Open Maharashtra title in the opening week of the season, conceded just one set all week as he clinched his third title in Metz. The 33-year-old has now won multiple tour-level trophies in a season for the first time since 2011 and owns 28 victories from 46 matches on the ATP World Tour this year. Read More

No. 40 Martin Klizan, +10
Despite falling short of becoming the first man since the ATP World Tour began in 1990 to win his first seven title matches, Martin Klizan enjoyed a stellar week at the St. Petersburg Open. The Generali Open titlist defeated second seed Fabio Fognini, #NextGenATP Canadian Denis Shapovalov and former World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka in consecutive matches before falling to Thiem in the championship match.

No. 59 Stan Wawrinka, +12
The 16-time tour-level titlist reached his second semi-final of the season in St. Petersburg as he continues to rediscover his best form, following a six-month absence, due to knee injury, in 2017. The Swiss won three consecutive matches in straight sets to reach the final four, where he was edged by Klizan in three sets.

Other Notable Top 100 Movers This Week
No. 30 Gael Monfils, +4
No. 54 Malek Jaziri, +4
No. 72 Mikhail Kukushkin, +4
No. 77 Laslo Djere, +6
No. 86 Federico Delbonis, +11
No. 95 Filip Krajinovic, +4
No. 99 Jordan Thompson, +8

ATPWorldTour.com looks at the top Movers of the Week in the ATP Race To London, as of Monday, 1 October 2018

No. 73 Bernard Tomic, +48
Bernard Tomic had been in danger of dropping outside the Top 250 in May this year, but the Australian has worked his way back to 73rd place in the ATP Race To London as a result of capturing his first ATP World Tour title in more than three years (Bogota, July 2015). The 25-year-old saved four match points in the deciding set tie-break to beat Fabio Fognini, currently in 11th position in the ATP Race To London, for the Chengdu Open trophy. Read & Watch Chengdu Final Highlights

Tomic’s rise began in May with a runner-up finish at the Open Du Pays D’Aix (l. to Millman), an ATP Challenger Tour event, followed by a Libema Open semi-final (l. to Gasquet) exit. In early September, he won the Rafa Nadal Open Banc Sabadell (d. Bachinger), which represented his third Challenger crown.

View Latest ATP Race To London

No. 60 Aljaz Bedene, +14
Aljaz Bedene improved to a staggering 15-2 in ATP Challenger Tour finals, claiming his first title of the year at the prestigious Open d'Orleans. He rallied from a set down and saved a match point for a thrilling 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(6) win over home hope Antoine Hoang. The Slovenian reached his third ATP World Tour final earlier this year at the Argentina Open in Buenos Aires.

View ATP Challenger Tour Stories

No. 82 Yoshihito Nishioka, +67
Yoshihito Nishioka became the sixth qualifier to win a tour-level title in 2018 at the Shenzhen Open on Sunday, when he beat Pierre-Hugues Herbert 7-5, 2-6, 6-4. The Japanese player soared 67 spots to 82nd place in the ATP Race To London. Only 18 months ago, Nishioka tore his left ACL at the 2017 Miami Open presented by Itaú. Read & Watch Shenzhen Final Highlights

No. 92 Michael Mmoh, +14
The #NextGenATP American completed the month of September with an 11-1 match record and the Wells Fargo Tiburon Challenger trophy (d. Granollers). The 20-year-old also moves into the running for a place at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan in November. View Latest ATP Race To Milan

Other Notable Top 100 Movers This Week
No. 31 Fernando Verdasco, +3
No. 32 Alex de Minaur, +3
No. 42 Joao Sousa, +6
No. 49 Pierre-Hugues Herbert, +11
No. 51 Taylor Fritz, +6
No. 58 Albert Ramos-Vinolas, +5
No. 78 Cameron Norrie, +4
No. 87 Marcel Granollers, +6

Seven Japanese players in the Top 200 of ATP Rankings
When Kei Nishikori made his ATP World Tour debut in April 2007, there were zero Japanese players in the Top 200 of the ATP Rankings. Only one player – Shuzo Matsuoka – had ever won a title on the ATP World Tour (1992 Seoul).

When Matsuoka retired from professional tennis in 1998, he immediately turned his attention to the future of the sport. "The moment I retired, I set up tennis camps for children aged 10-18 with the objective of helping young Asians to attain a Top 100 ranking," he told ATPWorldTour.com in 2008.

Today, there are seven Japanese players in the Top 200:

Rank Player Age Career-High ATP Rank Titles
12 Kei Nishikori 錦織 圭 28 No. 4 (March 2015) 11
72 Taro Daniel ダニエル 太郎 25 No. 64 (August 2018) 1
95 Yoshihito Nishioka 西岡 良仁 23 No. 58 (March 2017) 1
110 Yuichi Sugita 杉田 祐一 30 No. 36 (October 2017) 1
179
Tatsuma Ito 伊藤 竜馬

30 No. 60 (October 2012) -
190
Hiroki Moriya 守屋 宏紀

27 No. 143 (January 2015) -
191 Go Soeda 添田 豪 34 No. 47 (July 2012) -
Additionally, over the past year-and-a-half, three Japanese players have joined Matsuoka and Kei Nishikori in the winners' circle on the ATP World Tour.

Kei Nishikori 錦織 圭
Age 28, Career-High No. 4 (March 2015), 11 titles

As a child, Nishikori attended tennis camps led by Matsuoka and set a goal of breaking his countryman’s career-high ranking of No. 46. Nishikori left Shimane at the age of 13 to train at Nick Bollettieri’s academy in Florida, and a mere five years later in Delray Beach, became the youngest ATP titlist since Lleyton Hewitt. “I can see he is a better player than I ever was, already,” said Matsuoka in 2008.

Nishikori matched Matsuoka’s mark in August 2011, but it wasn’t until his semi-final run at the Rolex Shanghai Masters later that year that he achieved 'Project 45' as he rose to No. 30. He continued to lead the way for Japan – and Asia – in the ensuing years, winning an additional 10 titles, reaching a career-high World No. 4, contesting a Grand Slam final, thrice qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals, finishing a season as the highest-ranked Asian in ATP World Tour history and more.

“I’m happy to hear all the new record or whatever, but my goal is not to make new records in Asia, it's to be one of the best players in the world,” said Nishikori in 2015. “There's more things to do, but I am having fun on this journey.”

This season, Nishikori saw his ranking fall to as low as World No. 39 – his lowest placement since October 2011 – after starting the year on the comeback trail, but he returned to Tokyo this week at No. 12 in the ATP Rankings. “I think I’m back at a great level again. I just have to keep 100 per cent every tournament, every match, and just keep being positive, keep my confidence there, and just enjoy playing the matches,” he said.

My First Title: Nishikori Remembers 2008 Delray Beach
(October 2014) The Kei Effect: Nishikori’s Impact On Asian Tennis
(May 2014) From ‘Project 45’ To Top 10
(Nov 2008) Nishikori: Project 45 No Longer A Secret



Taro Daniel ダニエル 太郎
Age 25, Career-High No. 64 (August 2018), 1 Title

Daniel grabbed headlines this past March, when he overcame nerves and a winless record against Top 20 opposition to stun five-time BNP Paribas Open champion Novak Djokovic in front of a packed house on Stadium 1.

While that victory came on hard courts, Daniel’s other milestones have been on clay. In 2014, he made his tour-level debut as a qualifier in Vina del Mar, and proceeded to beat former champion Thomaz Bellucci in the first round. This past May, Daniel claimed his first ATP World Tour title at the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open, beginning his climb towards a career-high No. 64 ATP Ranking by August.

Daniel, who began playing tennis with his father on clay courts in Japan, explained that his international upbringing contributed to his affinity for the surface. “I was born in the U.S., my father is American and has a job that made us travel around the world,” he said. “We had the chance to go to Spain and that was great for me to practise at a higher level. That’s when I got to play more on clay-courts and the reason why I play better on that surface than most of the other Japanese players.”

Daniel Does It! Taro Lifts Maiden Trophy
First-Time Winner Spotlight
Determined Daniel Downs Djokovic



Yoshihito Nishioka 西岡 良仁
Age 23, Career-High No. 58 (March 2017), 1 Title

Nishioka became the newest Japanese champion on the ATP World Tour, when he won seven matches in eight days to triumph at last week’s Shenzhen Open as a qualifier. The 5’8” Mie native, who began playing tennis with his father at the age of four, enjoyed a breakthrough in 2017; Nishioka moved up to a career-high No. 58 in the ATP Rankings in March after qualifying and reaching the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open. But only a week later, he tore his ACL in the second round of the Miami Open and was sidelined for the remainder of the season.

Nishioka, who saw Yuichi Sugita and Taro Daniel lift trophies during his injury layoff and comeback, shared that their success gave him extra motivation. “If they are doing well, my own mental belief is pumping up and I need to do more. I go harder in training and practice and I want to get a trophy as well. If they are doing well, I want to do more... I think it is really good for Japanese tennis right now.”

Read & Watch: Nishioka Lifts Maiden Trophy In Shenzhen
First-Time Winner Spotlight



Yuichi Sugita 杉田 祐一
Age 30, Career-High No. 36 (October 2017), 1 Title

Last April, Sugita joined an exclusive club that had previously only included Matsuoka and Nishikori. “Before the final, I heard that if I win the tournament, I will be the third Japanese player to win on the ATP World Tour,” he said at the time. “This was amazing. I made my first semi-final here, then the final and the title. I just played my best tennis and I'm really proud of the way I played.”

With his triumph on grass at the inaugural Antalya Open, Sugita broke into the Top 50 – 11 years after he first turned pro, and 21 years after he started playing tennis with mother. He continued his rise by reaching his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 quarter-final in Cincinnati. From a No. 136 ATP Ranking in February 2017, he climbed 100 spots to No. 36 by October.

Back on his favourite surface this past June, Sugita played what he called “the best match of my career” to upset then-World No. 7 Dominic Thiem. It marked his second Top 10 win this season, including his win over No. 9 Jack Sock at the Australian Open.

Sugita Surges To First ATP World Tour Title
First-Time Winner Spotlight
Sublime Sugita Stuns Thiem In Halle

ATPWorldTour.com looks at the top Movers of the Week in the ATP Race To London, as of Monday, 8 October 2018

No. 7 Kevin Anderson, +1
Four singles berths remain up for grabs at the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held at The O2 in London from 11-18 November, with just four weeks left in the regular ATP World Tour season. Anderson, who is seeking a first-time qualification, has moved up one place to seventh position in the ATP Race To London as a result of reaching the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships 2018 quarter-finals (l. to Gasquet). Last season, the South African finished 14th in the ATP Race To London and he was 12th in 2014. Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Juan Martin del Potro have already booked their places at the prestigious season finale. Buy Your London Tickets Today


View Latest ATP Race To London Standings

No. 12 Stefanos Tsitsipas, +1
Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas advanced to last week’s Tokyo quarter-finals (l. to Nishikori) and also qualified for the Next Gen ATP Finals, to be held from 6-10 November in Milan. The 20-year-old is up to 12th place in the ATP Race To London, but remains 1,710 points behind Dominic Thiem, who currently occupies the eighth and final automatic qualification position for the Nitto ATP Finals.

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No. 19 Daniil Medvedev, +7
The 22-year-old Russian captured his third – and biggest – title of the year on Sunday in Tokyo, beating two-time former champion and home favourite Kei Nishikori. In adding to his Sydney International and Winston-Salem Open crowns, Medvedev moved up seven places to 19th in the ATP Race To London. Read More & Watch Tokyo Final Highlights

No. 20 Nikoloz Basilashvili, +7
The 26-year-old Georgian won his second ATP World Tour 500 title of the year by upsetting Del Potro for the China Open trophy. Basilashvili added to the German Tennis Championships 2018 presented by Kampmann title (d. L. Mayer) won in July and rose seven spots to 20th in the year-to-date standings.