We added up the points of the top 100 players in the ATP rankings by nationality. Italy leads the pack, with Spain in third place
The golden age of Italian tennis lies in the emotions, in that magical symbiosis between the 13,000 fans at the Inalpi Arena and the hero they’ve been waiting for their whole lives. And it lies in the numbers: cold, rational, irrefutable. A high-level movement has emerged around Jannik Sinner: the good fortune of having a champion never before admired in these parts should be seen as the well-deserved reward for the work carried out by the federation, the clubs, and private teams over the last two decades. Just in the wake of his second triumph in Turin, the ATP rankings place Italy at the top of the world. Using the points accumulated by players in the top 100 as a metric—a measure that accounts for both the excellence and the depth of the professional pool—our country has reached 23,732 points, surpassing the United States (23,074) in the last week. Rounding out the podium, some distance behind, is Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz (18,099). Next are France (14,023) and, further behind with scores ranging from 7,631 to 7,019 points, Argentina, Russia, Australia, Serbia, Canada, and Germany. The year-end ranking is the crowning achievement of a fairy-tale 2025. We can boast one of the “Big Two,” who, had it not been for the three-month suspension due to the Clostebol case, would have finished the season in first place (Alcaraz, 550 points ahead, played four more tournaments). And we welcome a second Italian among the world’s top ten: Lorenzo Musetti, capable of performing on clay at the level of the top 3–4 players. It is no coincidence that in June the player from Carrara reached sixth place.
The Finals were decisive in overtaking the American giant: Jannik, with the 1,500 points from his victory, created a gap of 7,365 points between himself and Taylor Fritz, No. 6 and the top American; Lorenzo, with his first-ever qualification and the 200 points from his group-stage victory over De Minaur, displaced Ben Shelton—No. 9 and the second-ranked American—to eighth place. Of course, the U.S.—one of the historic powerhouses of the sport—has 15 players in the top 100 of the rankings. But Italy, with less than a fifth of the U.S. population, fields nine, four of whom are in the top 30. This year, Flavio Cobolli and Luciano Darderi reached their career-high rankings: 17th (now 22nd) and 26th, respectively. Speaking of Darderi, Sinner’s comment from a few days ago is telling: “We can afford not to call up the world No. 26, which is Darderi, because we have Cobolli, we have Musetti, and there are so many others. And we have an incredible doubles team (Bolelli/Vavassori, the world’s seventh-ranked pair, ed.).” While Lorenzo Sonego finished the tour on a high note (39th), earning a call-up to the national team, former top-ten player Matteo Berrettini was held back by physical issues. Otherwise, we would have found him well above the 56th position he currently holds. Rounding out the picture are Matteo Arnaldi (63rd), expected to bounce back after climbing to 30th place in 2024, Mattia Bellucci (74th), and Luca Nardi (87th). The latter two have improved their personal bests over the course of the year (63rd and 67th place). Another statistic stands out: excluding the “veterans” Sonego and Berrettini, all the others are between 22 and 24 years old. The present, but also the future, is painted blue. And the new generation is cutting its teeth on the junior circuits: Cinà (18) and Vasamì (17) are the most promising.
the titles — The proof of this diversity of talent lies in the trophy case. Last season, Italian tennis players won 11 ATP titles. Sinner, of course, took home the most prestigious trophies: two Grand Slams (the Australian Open and Wimbledon), the Finals, the Paris Masters 1000, as well as the 500-point tournaments in Beijing and Vienna. But the three tournaments won by Darderi (the 250s in Marrakech, Bastad, and Umag) and Cobolli’s double (Hamburg 500, Bucharest 250) also shine. Musetti is expected to make his mark in 2026; this year, he reached the final three times, at the Monte Carlo 1000 and the Chengdu and Athens 250s. A side note: so far we’ve talked about the men, but in the pantheon of Italian tennis, a front-row seat belongs to Jasmine Paolini, who has managed to hold her place in the top ten for the second consecutive year.
