We added up the points of the top 100 players in the ATP rankings, broken down 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, and indisputable. A high-level movement has sprung up 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 past two decades. 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 takes into account both the caliber of top players and the depth of the professional pool—Italy has reached 23,732 points, surpassing the United States (23,074) in the last week. Rounding out the podium, some distance behind, is Spain, led by Carlos Alcaraz (18,099). Next come 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 related 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, who was able to perform on clay at the level of the top 3–4 players. It’s 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 tennis—has 15 players in the top 100 of the rankings. But Italy, with less than one-fifth of the U.S. population, has nine players in the top 100, 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 ended the season on a high note (No. 39), earning a call-up to the national team, former top-ten player Matteo Berrettini was held back by physical issues. Otherwise, we would have seen him ranked much higher than the No. 56 spot he currently holds. Rounding out the picture are Matteo Arnaldi (No. 63), expected to bounce back after climbing to No. 30 in 2024, Mattia Bellucci (No. 74), and Luca Nardi (No. 87). The latter two have improved their career-high rankings over the course of the year (No. 63 and No. 67, respectively). Another striking statistic: excluding the “veterans” Sonego and Berrettini, all the others are between 22 and 24 years old. Not only the present but also the future is painted blue. And the new generation is cutting its teeth on the lower-tier circuits: Cinà (18) and Vasamì (17) are the most promising.
The titles — 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-level tournaments in Beijing and Vienna. But the three tournaments won by Darderi (the 250s in Marrakech, Bastad, and Umag) and Cobolli’s double (the 500 in Hamburg and the 250 in Bucharest) also stand out. Musetti is expected to make his mark in 2026; this year, he fell short three times in the finals—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 remain in the top ten for the second consecutive year.
