Purcell Breaks Top 50, Mover Of Week

As Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz’s cat-and-mouse battle for World No. 1 continued with a thrilling championship match at the Western & Southern Open, a host of other ATP Tour stars made big jumps off the back of the ATP Masters 1000 in Cincinnati.

ATPTour.com looks at the movers of the week in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings as of 21 August 2023.

No. 47 Max Purcell, +23 (Career High)
A breakout run to the quarter-finals in Cincinnati has propelled the 25-year-old Purcell to a career-high No. 47. After reaching the second round as a qualifier in Toronto in his maiden Masters 1000 main-draw appearance, the Australian qualified again in Cincinnati before downing Lloyd Harris, Casper Ruud (Purcell’s first Top 10 win) and Stan Wawrinka to book a quarter-final spot in Ohio. Despite a three-set defeat to World No. 1 Alcaraz, Purcell is now a Top 50 player for the first time.

No. 4 Holger Rune, +1 (Career High)
There was a disappointing end to Rune’s debut as a Top 5 player as the Dane retired from his opening match in Cincinnati against Mackenzie McDonald after receiving treatment on his lower back. Despite that setback, the 20-year-old continues to rise in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. He will head to the US Open in New York as the new World No. 4.

No. 5 Casper Ruud, +2
Ruud also suffered an early exit in Cincinnati, but he nonetheless trades places upwards with new No. 7 Stefanos Tsitsipas. Ruud’s defeat to Purcell was his second-straight opening-round loss in Cincinnati, but it is unlikely to deter the Norwegian ahead of the US Open — a year ago he recovered from defeat to Ben Shelton in Ohio by charging to his second major final of 2022 in New York.

No. 12 Alexander Zverev, +5
Zverev’s rebuilding job after suffering a serious ankle injury at 2022 Roland Garros continued apace last week in Cincinnati, where the German reached his first Masters 1000 semi-final of the season. The 26-year-old Zverev downed Grigor Dimitrov and Daniil Medvedev en route to the last four, where he pushed eventual champion Djokovic close in two tight sets.

No. 40 Alexei Popyrin, +18 (Career High)
Australia’s Popyrin backed up his title run in Umag with a stirring quarter-final run in Cincinnati, where he was competing on hard courts for the first time since March. The 24-year-old fell to Purcell in qualifying but then capitalised on being awarded a lucky loser spot in the main draw by defeating Daniel Altmaier and Emil Ruusuvuori, before falling to Hubert Hurkacz in the last eight.

Other Notable Top 100 Movers
No. 17 Hubert Hurkacz, +3
No. 21 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, +2 (Career High)
No. 23 Adrian Mannarino, +9
No. 24 Nicolas Jarry, +2 (Career High)
No. 39 Mackenzie McDonald, +4 (Career High)
No. 52 Dusan Lajovic, +14
No. 65 Luca Van Assche, +3 (Career High)
No. 71 Corentin Moutet, +6
No. 84 Alexander Shevchenko, +4 (Joint Career High)