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June 19 (UPI) — Taylor Fritz has retained his eighth-place ranking, while Frances Tiafoe has risen to the tenth position in the world rankings, making them the first duo from the United States to be ranked in the Top 10 of men’s tennis in over a decade, according to the latest ATP Tour singles rankings released on Monday.
Tiafoe, aged 25, has also become the third Black American player to reach the Top 10, following in the footsteps of Arthur Ashe and James Blake. Fritz and Tiafoe are the first American men to achieve Top-10 rankings since Mardy Fish and John Isner held those positions in May 2012.
Tiafoe’s victory over No. 21 Jan-Lennard Struff from Germany in three sets in the final of the Stuttgart Open on Sunday in Stuttgart, Germany, resulted in a two-place improvement in the rankings.
“I’m a guy who probably shouldn’t even be here achieving half the things he’s achieving,” Tiafoe said, according to the ATP Tour. “And now when you mention my name, you can say that I’m in the Top 10 in the world. It’s something that no one can take away from you, and I’ll remember it forever. Hopefully, I can sustain this level for a long time.”
Tiafoe turned professional in 2015 and first entered the Top 100 in 2017. The native of Hyattsville, Md., broke into the Top 50 in 2018 and reached the Top 25 in August. In the case of Fritz, also 25, he turned professional in 2015, made his Top 100 debut in 2016, reached the Top 50 in 2018, and the Top 25 in 2019. He climbed to the Top 10 in October and achieved a career-best ranking of No. 5 in February.
Fritz, a quarterfinalist in Wimbledon 2022, suffered a defeat to No. 66 Marton Fucsovics from Hungary in the semifinals of the Stuttgart Open on Sunday. He reached the Round of 32 in this year’s French Open and the Round of 64 in the Australian Open.
Fritz started the year with a victory over No. 34 Matteo Berrettini to secure the inaugural United Cup trophy for the United States in January in Sydney.
Fritz and Tiafoe will now participate in the Cinch Championships, also known as the Queen’s Club Championships, as a warm-up for Wimbledon. The grass-court tournament will take place from Monday to Sunday in London. Wimbledon will be held from July 3 to 16 in the same city.
The top five players in the ATP singles rankings remain unchanged, with No. 1 Novak Djokovic from Serbia leading the pack. No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz from Spain, No. 3 Daniil Medvedev from Russia, No. 4 Casper Ruud from Norway, and No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas from Greece complete the top rankings.
