Biggest movers: Aussie men rise high in 2018
Strong representation in the top 50, 12 different ATP Challenger champions, 15 players enjoying major rankings improvements ... it was a banner season for Australian men's tennis in 2018.
Melbourne VIC, Australia, 20 November 2018 | tennis.com.au
Wherever you looked in professional tennis in 2018, Australia’s men were enjoying success.
At this time last year, the nation had three players inside the ATP top 100 – Nick Kyrgios (21), Matt Ebden (80) and Jordan Thompson (95). Now there are six, including four in the top 50.
Those in the top 50 – Alex de Minaur (31), John Millman (34), Kyrgios (36) and Ebden (46) – enjoyed impressive success at the Grand Slams, with Millman’s run to the US Open quarters a particular highlight. The quartet also thrived on the ATP tour, most notably breakout star De Minaur, who reached two finals and two semifinals and capped the year with a trip to the Next Gen final in Milan.
Elsewhere, 12 Aussie men won ATP Challenger titles, up from five in 2017. Plenty also enjoyed success on the ITF Futures circuit.
As a result, many of them made significant moves up the rankings in the past 12 months to this week, when the ATP’s 2018 year-end rankings were announced. These improvements are outlined below:
| Player | 2017 | 2018 | Rise | Highlights |
| Alex De Minaur | 210 | 31 | +179 | F Washington DC, Sydney, Next Gen ATP Finals |
| John Millman | 165 | 34 | +131 | F Budapest; QF US Open, Eastbourne |
| Matt Ebden | 80 | 46 | +34 | SF Atlanta, ‘s-Hertogenbosch; QF Shanghai, Chengdu, Halle |
| Jordan Thompson | 95 | 72 | +23 | W Chennai, Traralgon, Canberra (Challengers) |
| Bernard Tomic | 143 | 84 | +59 | W Chengdu; SF ‘s-Hertogenbosch |
| Jason Kubler | 334 | 114 | +220 | W Playford, Winnipeg (Challengers); R2 US Open |
| Marc Polmans | 322 | 145 | +177 | W Launceston; F Tallahassee, Stockton (Challengers) |
| Alexei Popyrin | 707 | 149 | +558 | W Jinan (Challenger); R2 Stockholm |
| Thanasi Kokkinakis | 211 | 153 | +58 | W Aptos, Las Vegas (Challengers); R3 Miami |
| Alex Bolt | 192 | 159 | +33 | W Zhuhai; F Fairfield (Challengers); R2 ‘s-Hertogenbosch |
| James Duckworth | 986 | 249 | +737 | W Cary; SF Tiburon (Challengers); 3R Washington DC |
| Maverick Banes | 300 | 264 | +36 | W Gwangju (CH); W Singapore, Hong Kong, Toowoomba (ITF) |
| Andrew Harris | 494 | 403 | +91 | SF Launceston, Mornington, Wichita, Boston (ITF) |
| Jacob Grills | 577 | 458 | +119 | W Cairns (ITF); QF Canberra (Challenger) |
| Jeremy Beale | 786 | 470 | +316 | W Jakarta; F Anning (ITFs) |
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