No. 45 (Career High) Alex de Minaur, +27
The #NextGenATP Australian continued his meteoric rise up the ATP Rankings, breaking into the Top 50 for the first time with a 27-position rise to No. 45. De Minaur won four matches, including three three-set victories, en route to the Citi Open final, where he lost to World No. 3 Alexander Zverev. Having begun the year at No. 208, he soon reached his first ATP World Tour title match in January at the Sydney International (l. to Medvedev). Read More & Watch Washington, D.C. Final Highlights

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No. 44 (Career High) Nicolas Jarry, +9
The 22-year-old Chilean also made his Top 50 breakthrough (at No. 44) after a semi-final run at the Generali Open (l. to Istomin). With a 22-16 record on the season, Jarry has advanced to four tour-level semi-finals (or better), highlighted by a runner-up finish in February at the Brasil Open (l. to Fognini). He began 2018 at No. 113.

No. 77 Martin Klizan, +35
The 29-year-old jumped 35 places to No. 77 in the ATP Rankings after maintaining his perfect record in ATP World Tour finals (6-0) with victory in Kitzbühel (d. Istomin). The Slovakian won seven matches, including three in qualifying and a second-round win over No. 8-ranked Dominic Thiem. Klizan, who ranked a career-high No. 24 on 27 April 2015, dropped to as low as No. 181 on 26 February this year. Read More & Watch Kitzbühel Final Highlights

Other Notable Top 100 Movers This Week
No. 21 (Career High) Marco Cecchinato, +1
No. 27 (Career High) Stefanos Tsitsipas, +5
No. 37 Andrey Rublev, +9
No. 67 (Career High) Cameron Norrie, +7
No. 75 Denis Istomin, +20
No. 76 Denis Kudla, +9
No. 97 Paolo Lorenzi, +13

Milos Raonic might have hoped for a more favourable first-round assignment than Belgian No. 10 seed David Goffin in his Rogers Cup return. But after battling a slew of injuries throughout 2017 and at times this season, the Canadian No. 2 will take fitness over favourable draws any day.

Back ready to play before his home crowd in Toronto on Monday, the 27-year-old hopes the crowd and familiar surrounds will spark another surge. It was his Canadian fans that willed him on to a maiden ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final in Montreal five years ago before he fell to Rafael Nadal.

View FedEx ATP Head2Head for the Rogers Cup & vote for who you think will win! 
Goffin vs Raonic | Sock vs Medvedev | Coric vs Pospisil

After a freak eye injury ended his ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament semi-final clash with Grigor Dimitrov in February, Goffin has struggled. After a dismal grass-court season, he managed to reach the quarter-finals last week at the Citi Open, where he fell to Stefanos Tsitsipas. Raonic has not competed since a quad injury hampered his Wimbledon quarter-final clash with John Isner. 

“I feel good. I’ve had 15 days of practice here in Toronto before the match-up,” Raonic said. “I’ve prepared as best as I can. It’s going to be a challenge.”

The pair has split four FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings, with Goffin having won their most recent clash on clay in Madrid last year, but the Belgian has never passed the third round at the Rogers Cup. “Tough opponent,” Raonic said. “We’ve had quite a few close matches, in important tournaments like Masters even in Slams as well. It’s going to be tough.

“We play pretty much the opposite game style. I’m going to be there, trying to dictate, trying to keep things quick. He’s going to be there trying to get rhythm, trying to prolong things so it’s about who can get ahead first and play on their terms.”

Also on Monday, Raonic’s countryman, wild card Vasek Pospisil, will seek to avenge a Davis Cup defeat from February when he squares off against Croatian No. 20 in the ATP Rankings, Borna Coric. The Croatian denied Roger Federer a 10th Gerry Weber Open title in Halle on the grass before a surprise straight-sets opening round defeat to Daniil Medvedev at Wimbledon. After a first-round exit at Wimbledon, Pospisil reached the quarter-finals of the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships but lost his opening match of the hard-court swing to Alex de Minaur in Washington.

Medvedev will be confident of inflicting more first-round pain on a seeded opponent when he faces No. 13 seed Jack Sock on Monday. The Russian, who won through qualifying, beat the American in the pair’s only prior FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting on grass at the Fever-Tree Championships at the Queen’s Club in June. Sock is desperate to snap a five-match losing streak dating back to May. 

It has been quite the year for the #NextGenATP contingent on the ATP Challenger Tour. On Sunday, the stars of tomorrow captured a pair of titles, bringing the 2018 total to 14 different winners.

In Lexington, Kentucky, 21-year-old Lloyd Harris not only celebrated his maiden crown, but joined an exclusive club of South Africans who have lifted Challenger trophies in recent years. Harris became the first to do so since Rik De Voest in 2013 and the youngest from his country since Kevin Anderson in 2007.

The Cape Town native capped an impressive week that saw him not drop a set en route to the title. He defeated Stefano Napolitano 6-4, 6-3 in Sunday’s championship, rising 47 spots to a career-high No. 161 in the ATP Rankings. Harris is now the second-highest ranked South African, behind only Anderson.

Lloyd Harris is the champion in Lexington, claiming his maiden #ATPChallenger title without dropping a set.

First ?? winner since @RikdeVoest in 2013.

Congrats @lloydharris63 ?? pic.twitter.com/rPC1DedR2s

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) August 5, 2018

Harris spoke to broadcaster Mike Cation following Sunday’s final…

Lloyd, it’s a big moment for you and a big moment for your country as well. You went down an early break in the first set. What changed after those first few games? You rattled off six straight after that.
Yeah, I went down an early break and was a little upset with myself. But I looked at my coach and decided that I need to just get back out there and get back to my game plan. I felt like I really started to play more aggressive from that point on. I went after the shots and tried to move forward a little bit more. 

I got excited, pumped up and motivated more. I was competing for every point and didn’t give any free ones away. Just getting my first serves up and trying to increase that percentage. I really found my game then.

I remember when you lost that break point in the first set, you were well behind the baseline. From then on, you tried to take that baseline away from him. Was that the gameplan?
Yeah, I feel like in the first few games, that’s what he was doing well. He was standing on the baseline and I was drifting further and further back. Especially if you’re break point down, you can’t be doing that and he took the initiative to me. Then, I was thinking that I needed to be doing that, otherwise the match would just drift away from me. That mentality really helped me on my serve as well, to get more into the court and start moving well too.

You said to me on Monday that you had a different mindset this week. You had a difficult 6-1, 6-2 loss to Marcel Granollers in Binghamton, so how did you turn it around in that regard in just a few days?
I wasn’t feeling my best out there, but I really started focusing on working hard. On and off the court, it was fitness and tennis. I kept on working on my game and kept on improving, even playing some doubles matches. And I was more positive on the court and fighting and working hard for every point. Those were a few key areas that helped me turn it around this week.

2018 #NextGenATP First-Time Winners: Molleker | Polmans | Hurkacz | Rodionov | De Minaur | Martinez | Clarke

It’s rare at this level to have a coach travel with you every week. What did it mean to have your coach here in Lexington?
It was definitely great for me to have him here. First time he traveled with me to the U.S. and I was just really happy. To have someone in my corner and get excited with and help take control of what I wanted to do. It meant a lot for us.

You don’t have the opportunity to benefit from wild cards in South Africa, to get your ATP Ranking up. But here you are, up to No. 161. Do you feel like you have to work a little bit harder in that sense?
I feel like it’s a longer process, because I’m not able to get into ATP World Tour or Challenger events right from the start. I need to go through the whole process and build my way up, through the Futures and now the Challengers. It’s been a long road already. I feel like I’m progressing and starting to find my game. Hoping to take it to the next level now.

Obviously what Kevin Anderson has done at the higher level means a lot to your country. What do you think this moment means for South African tennis?
What he has done is remarkable, getting to No. 5 in the world. Reaching two Grand Slam finals is something special. Our country needs even more players coming up. It’s not a great tennis country if it doesn’t have multiple guys doing well on the tour. I think it’s very good for the country to have another player coming through the ranks. Hopefully we can motivate others to do better as well.

It’s a very interesting transition, winning your first title and moving on to the next tournament. On top of that, you’re going cross country to Aptos, California. Conditions are much cooler there. How do you turn around for your match on Tuesday?
I mean, it’s very difficult as you say. But now it’s about recovering and getting my body right. That’s the most important thing. Tomorrow is going to have to be a travel day. I’ll have an early morning. I’m going to prepare my best. Tuesday might be my first time on the courts and I’ll have to adapt to the situation and use my confidence to fight through it.

How do you celebrate?
How do I celebrate? [laughs]. I haven’t thought about that. It’s still a bit early for that. I’ll definitely go celebrate a little tonight, but I need to stay focused for my next match in two days. A quick celebration and then it’s back to work.

Big things were expected of Grigor Dimitrov this season after he broke through to claim the Nitto ATP Finals in 2017. Expectations were nothing new for the gifted Bulgarian.

He has been grappling with them all his tennis life. But after arriving Down Under at a career-high No. 3 in the ATP Rankings in January, 2018 hasn’t quite lived up to Dimitrov’s own expectations.

It was during a four-year stint working with Patrick Mouratoglou that Dimitrov was warned talent was dangerous as it made an athlete think they could succeed without working.

“I just think talent helps you win matches sometimes, but it’s very different,” the No. 5 seed said ahead of his Rogers Cup campaign in Toronto on Sunday. “Sometimes when you have too many things in your bag it’s always hard. 

“I never look at myself through that side to be honest. Yes, maybe I’m talented but talent doesn’t necessarily win matches. It helps you, but it doesn’t win matches. 

“If it does you might win two, three, four matches but that’s it. If you want to be a Grand Slam champion, if you want to be No. 1, there are so many other things you need to be doing in order to get to that point. Of course it adds up to the occasion but (talent) is not the ultimate goal.”

On top of his biggest career title at the O2 Arena in November, Dimitrov had also landed his maiden ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati last August. With big points to defend in the second half of the season it makes this US hard-court stretch crucial for the 28-year-old.

“It depends on what you’re focusing on,” Dimitrov said. “I’ve never been the type of player that likes to focus on prize money, points, things like that.

“I like to always see the positives. I know it was tough losing that first round (to Stan Wawrinka) at Wimbledon but at the same time I need to take the positives out of that negative situation. I know one of the hardest things in tennis is to stay positive after a loss. 

“Every match is very important for me right now. I’m not trying to get back to No. 2, 3, 4, whatever it is. I’m really focused on the big picture and the things I want to get better at. 

“Sometimes one, two, three matches it can really turn it around for you again. If you stay compact, stay smart and do the right things you just never known when the tables might turn for you.” 

A LOOK BACK
Sopot Open (Gdynia, Poland): Paolo Lorenzi joined an exclusive club on Sunday in Sopot, becoming just the third player to lift 20 singles trophies on the ATP Challenger Tour. The Italian veteran outlasted Daniel Gimeno-Traver 7-6(2), 6-7(5), 6-3 in two hours and 59 minutes, in what was the longest final of the year on the circuit.

Lorenzi joins 29-time titlist Yen-Hsun Lu and 22-time winner Dudi Sela as the only players in the ’20 Titles Club’. Back inside the Top 100 at No. 97, he also owns an ATP World Tour crown in Kitzbuhel in 2016.

“I think I played better and better as the match went on,” said Lorenzi. “I made him run more and more in the third set. I think that was the key to the match.”

The Sopot Open is back on the ATP Challenger Tour for the first time since 2011, under the direction of former doubles star Mariusz Fyrstenberg. It is now the third Challenger in Poland, along with the Poznan Open and Pekao Szczecin Open, which took home Tournament of the Year honours in 2016.

International Challenger Chengdu (Chengdu, China): Zhang Ze claimed a historic victory for his native China, becoming the first player from the Asian nation to claim multiple Challenger crowns. The 28-year-old, who won his maiden title last year in San Francisco, lifted the trophy when top seed Henri Laaksonen retired with a left adductor injury in Sunday’s final.

“I feel so lucky to win the title,” said Zhang. “I do feel sorry for him (Laaksonen), but I am proud that I didn’t throw the match away after a bad start from the first set. This is always one of my goals, to win a title in my country. I know I haven’t been performing well in the first half of the year, but I hope I can do much better.”

The top player from China, Zhang will rise 77 spots to No. 182. The week was a special one in the emerging tennis country, as compatriot Wu Yibing reached the quarter-finals in his return from injury. The 18-year-old is back on the rise with a fresh approach and new coaching team, led by Sven Groeneveld.

Kentucky Bank Tennis Championships (Lexington, U.S.A.): Lloyd Harris became the first player from South Africa to prevail on the ATP Challenger Tour in five years. The Cape Town native scored his maiden title 6-4, 6-3 over Stefano Napolitano, lifting the trophy without dropping a set all week in Lexington.

Harris is the first South African winner since current Vancouver tournament director Rik De Voest in 2013. The 21-year-old joins Ugo Humbert as #NextGenATP winners on Sunday – the 13th and 14th players aged 21 & under to triumph on the Challenger circuit this year. 

Lloyd Harris is the champion in Lexington, claiming his maiden #ATPChallenger title without dropping a set.

First ?? winner since @RikdeVoest in 2013.

Congrats @lloydharris63 ?? pic.twitter.com/rPC1DedR2s

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) August 5, 2018

Open Castilla y Leon (Segovia, Spain): The 33rd edition of the hard-court event in Segovia saw its second straight champion aged 20 & under. Last year, home favourite Jaume Munar took the title and on Sunday it was France’s Ugo Humbert claiming his maiden crown.

Humbert defeated second seed Adrian Menendez-Maceiras 6-3, 6-4 for the title. It marked the third consecutive week in which the 20-year-old Frenchman was appearing in a Challenger final, after finishing runner-up on Canadian soil in both Gatineau (l. to Klahn) and Granby (l. to Polansky). He rises 43 spots to a career-high No. 141 in the ATP Rankings, having sat outside the Top 300 just three months ago.

French #NextGenATP Winners

Svijany Open (Liberec, Czech Republic): Andrej Martin captured his second title on the clay of Liberec, dethroning defending champion Pedro Sousa 6-1, 6-2 in 66 minutes. The Slovak previously lifted the trophy in 2014 and was at his ruthless best this week, not relinquishing more than three games in any set. It was the ninth Challenger title for the 28-year-old.

A LOOK AHEAD
The Nordic Naturals Challenger in scenic Aptos, California, celebrates its 31st anniversary next week. Thomas Fabbiano is the top seed, with Michael Mmoh second, Quentin Halys third and Thanasi Kokkinakis fourth.

The two-week Chinese swing concludes in Jinan, with Zhang Ze looking to go back-to-back on home soil. Newport finalist Ramkumar Ramanathan leads the field at the $150,000 event. Meanwhile, at the scenic hard-court stop in Portoroz, Slovenia, defending champion Sergiy Stakhovsky is the top seed.

Finally, the IsarOpen in Pullach, Germany, makes its debut. Jan-Lennard Struff leads the home charge, with Saturday’s Kitzbuhel winner Martin Klizan seeded fifth.