Ranking Reaction: Karatsev crashes Top 30; Musetti breaks into Top 100

There were four tour-level events this past week—two ATP 500 events, a WTA 500 and a WTA 250—and so there was bound to be a lot of movement on both the ATP and WTA rankings.

The most notable moves came on the ATP side with Russia’s Aslan Karatsev continuing his meteoric rise into the Top 30 after winning in Dubai, and Italian teenager Lorenzo Musetti breaking the Top 100 after reaching the biggest semifinal of his career in Acapulco.

Having risen from No. 114 to No. 42—his simultaneous Top 100 and Top 50 debuts—four weeks ago after reaching his first Grand Slam semifinal at the Australian Open, the 27-year-old Karatsev rose from No. 42 to No. 27 this week, his Top 40 and Top 30 debuts, after winning his first ATP title in Dubai.

The Russian was asked by ATPTour.com how life has changed since his breakthrough in Melbourne.

“The big change is that I went up in the rankings,” he said. “But I tried to stay more focused, to play hard whenever I step out on court. I’m enjoying the moment. I mean, I’m 27. I’m not old, but still, 27.

“It was a great week in the ATP Cup, we won the trophy. And playing a great two weeks in Australia gave me a lot of confidence. I arrived in Dubai with full energy after winning the doubles in Doha.”

If the revised ranking system went back to normal right now, Karatsev would be in the Top 10.

Another player with loads of potential, Musetti, scored the two biggest wins of his career against No. 9 Diego Schwartzman and No. 16 Grigor Dimitrov en route to the semis of Acapulco before ultimately falling to No.5 Stefanos Tsitsipas. This week he jumps from No. 120 to No. 94 in his Top 100 debut. He’s also the new youngest player in the Top 100 of the ATP rankings as of now.

“It’s a dream come true,” the 19-year-old Italian told ATPTour.com. “Since I was a kid, I hoped and dreamed to be one day Top 100 and to enter on the tour. Finally, I got this. It is incredible.”

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Other big moves on the ATP rankings include South Africa’s Lloyd Harris rising from No. 81 to No. 52 after reaching the Dubai final, smashing his previous high of No. 72; and Germany’s Dominik Koepfer rising from No. 71 to No. 54 after reaching the Acapulco semis, passing his previous best of No. 61.

Meanwhile, the two women’s champions this past week both made big moves up the WTA rankings: former No. 10 Daria Kasatkina rose from No. 61 to No. 42 after winning the WTA 500 title in St. Petersburg; and Canadian teenager Leylah Fernandez rose from No. 88 to No. 72 after winning the first WTA title of her career in Monterrey, surpassing her previous career-high of No. 86.