IN a new occasional series, we take a look at those players who are red-hot and those who are ice-cold in terms of their Tour rankings, starting with the men’s ATP Tour, following the conclusion of the US Open.

RUNNING HOT:

Lloyd Harris

Weekly rise: +15 (31st – Career High)
2021 YTD: +56 (87th)

The big-serving South African somehow flew under the radar at Roland Garros due to the rise of qualifiers and young guns, but the 24-year-old reached a quarter final before falling to fourth seed Alexander Zverev in the semis. He managed to collect three Top 30 scalps along the way, fighting back from a two sets to love deficit at the hands of Karen Khachanov in five sets, 6-4 1-6 4-6 6-3 6-2 before knocking off seventh seed Denis Shapovalov and 22nd seed Reilly Opelka among his other big scalps. It is the second straight tournament Harris has fallen to Zverev after losing to the German in Cincinnati the fortnight before. His biggest win this year was in Washington though, where he knocked off top seed Rafael Nadal in a massive upset.

Carlos Alcaraz

Weekly rise: +17 (38th – Career High)
2021 YTD: +103 (141st)

The teenager has always been a name expected to make it to the big time, and he had plenty of court action at the US Open, reaching a quarter final. He had back-to-back five-setters and played 14 sets within six days, though enjoyed a massive upset over third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas with a clutch deciding set tiebreaker. He had been building his form over the past 18 months on clay, but a semi-finals appearance at Winston Salem the week prior after a maiden ATP Tour title in Croatia, showed he is ready for the big time.

Pedro Martinez

Weekly rise: +14 (59th – Career High)
2021 YTD: +26 (85th)

It might not be as glamorous as the above two, but Martinez enjoyed a nice ranking boost and new career-high after claiming a Challenger Tour following his US Open exit. Producing a remarkable comeback after facing match points in the third set against Australian James Duckworth, Martinez won in five sets, 4-6 4-6 7-6 6-2 6-2, and then took a set off Andrey Rublev before going down in four sets. He travelled to Seville after the loss for a Challenger ATP 90 event back on his preferred clay, where he won, only dropping one set for the tournament, and moving into the Top 60 for the first time.

Alex Molcan

Weekly rise: +21 (117th – Career High)
2021 Y2D: +195 (312th)

Inexperienced on the ATP Tour, 23-year-old Molcan moved into the Top 120 for the first time, with a 21-ranking boost from his third round appearance at the US Open. There was no shame in losing to Diego Schwartzman, after fighting through qualifiers and having a hard-fought five-set victory over Brandon Nakashima along the way. It came off a dominant win in Liberec, Czech Republic where he won the Challenger 80 title there without dropping a set and only dropping a combined two games in the semi-final and final. Considering he was ranked outside the Top 300 heading into 2021, the Slovakian has had a big year.

Botic van de Zandschulp

Weekly rise: +55 (62nd – Career High)
2021 Y2D: +94 (156th)

Having only won five ATP Tour matches prior to this year, van de Zandschulp was easily the surprise packet of the US Open men’s draw. Whilst Alcaraz’s run was a little surprising, he always had the ability and just needed to click. The Dutch qualifier on the other hand, has been on Tour since 2013 and is 25-years-old. In an effort only bettered by the older Aslan Karatsev‘s semi-final run at the Australian Open this year, van de Zandschulp had a massive five-set win over Schwartzman in the third round. He also defeated eighth seed Casper Ruud in the second round, and was the only player to take a set off eventual US Open winner Daniil Medvedev all tournament.

ICE COLD:

Juan Ignacio Londero

Weekly drop: -8 (161st)
2021 Y2D: -82 (79th)

It has been a long couple of years for the Argentinian who was on top of the world following his maiden ATP Tour title in Cordoba back in February, 2019. He reached a fourth round in Roland Garros and the final of Bastad. Since reaching the second round of the 2019 US Open, Londero has a win-loss Tour record of 9-27, including 13 straight losses, with his last win being that epic five-set victory over Federico Delbonis back at the 2020 Roland Garros where he won 14-12. He has not won a single ATP Tour main draw match in 2021, and even struggled against some lowly ranked players.

Thiago Seyboth Wild

Weekly drop: -11 (130th)
2021 Y2D: -14 (116th)

It might be a little harsh on the 21-year-old Next-Gen prospect, but after showing so much promise early in 2020 and expected to have a similar rise to Alcaraz, 2021 has been a fizzer for the Brazilian clay courter. After getting up to 106th in the world, winning a maiden title in Santiago – defeating two of the world’s best clay courters in Cristian Garin and Ruud along the way – then reaching a final on the Challenger Tour later in the year, Seyboth Wild was one of the most exciting prospects heading into this year. It has not quite panned out for him winning just one match on Tour and hovering outside the Top 100. Luckily the young talent is still developing with plenty of years to make the jump.

Benoit Paire

Weekly drop: +1 (48th)
2021 Y2D: -20 (28th)

Forget the fact that the controversial Frenchman went up a ranking place in the past week, it was more due to others slipping and the fact he had no points to lose. Another first round defeat at a Grand Slam, this time to Dusan Lajovic marks an 18 months to forget for a player since winning a title in Auckland last year in Janaury. His best tournament came in Cincinnati where he upset Denis Shapovalov and John Isner, and also took Rublev to three sets. He has had some shocking results this year, with one win interrupting seven consecutive losses either side, and a shocking 2-17 start to the year. He has started to get his act together later in the year, but this guy was a Top 20 player last year.

Picture credit: Darren Carroll/USTA