Who is the highest-ranked player from each birth year?

Who is the best player in the PIF ATP Rankings from each generation? If you’ve ever pondered this question, look no further; here are the answers, based on the ranking from Monday 27 January 2025.

From 1985 to 2008, we go through the years to find the best of each age group in the singles world Top 1000.

2008 - Diego Dedura-Palomero (16 years old)
The youngest of our best-ranked players in the world’s Top 1000, currently sitting at No. 575 in the PIF ATP Rankings. Despite his Chilean roots, Dedura-Palomero plays under the German flag and claimed his first ATP point at the age of 15 at the M15 ITF World Tennis Tour event in Allershausen in his home country. Last year he made his bow on the ATP Challenger Tour, where he has a record of 2-4. He is the pick of the players born in 2008, ahead of Australia’s Cruz Hewitt and the Argentinian Dante Pagani.

2007 - Justin Engel (17)
The highest ranked player from the 2007 generation is also German. Engel has climbed to the World No. 369 spot, his highest position in the PIF ATP Rankings, after starting the year with a title at the M15 in Cadolzburg and reaching the semi-finals at the M25 in Nussloch, both on carpet in his home country. Last season he earned his first win on the ATP Tour at the Altmaty Open, beating Coleman Wong in two sets in the first round. One round later, Francisco Cerundolo brought his campaign to an end.

2006 - Joao Fonseca (18)
The Brazilian is the youngest player in the Top 100, having climbed to No. 99 last Monday. The defending champion of the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF has enjoyed a spectacular start to the 2025 season, claiming the trophy at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Canberra before coming through qualifying at the Australian Open, where he picked up his first win over a Top 10 player in round one, taking down No. 9 Andrey Rublev. He is closely followed by Spain’s Martín Landaluce, who celebrated his 19th birthday in January and currently sits at No. 135 in the world.

2005 - Jakub Mensik (19)
The Czech No. 48 in the PIF ATP Rankings is the standout player from a whole host of big names born in 2005, he leads Juncheng Shang (No. 54), Learner Tien (No. 80), and Nishesh Basavareddy (No. 107). They are all challenging in the PIF ATP Live Race to Jeddah. However, Mensik, who started his season with two quarter-finals Brisbane (l. to Mpetshi Perricard) and Auckland (l. to Borges), is now at his highest career ranking. At the Australian Open he reached round three by overcoming World No. 6 Casper Ruud.

2004 - Arthur Fils (20)
The Frenchman has broken into the Top 20 of the PIF ATP Rankings on the back of the two ATP 500 crowns he claimed last year in Hamburg and Tokyo, as well as a solid start to the season, reaching the quarter-finals in Hong Kong and the third round of the Australian Open. His impressive performances have allowed him to climb to his highest career ranking this week at 19 in the world. Also born in 2004 was the American Alex Michelsen, now the World No. 36 (highest ranking), after reaching the second week of a Grand Slam for the first time in Melbourne.

2003 - Carlos Alcaraz (21)
Although he is currently the No. 3 in the PIF ATP Rankings, the Spaniard can boast of having been the youngest World No. 1 in history, having claimed the throne on 12 September 2022. His trophy cabinet is already adorned by 16 ATP Tour titles, four of them Grand Slams (2022 US Open, Wimbledon 2023 and 2024, 2024 French Open), as well as five ATP Masters 1000s (Miami 2022, Madrid 2022, Indian Wells 2023, Madrid 2023, Indian Wells 2024) and Olympic silver in Paris 2024. Two huge stars of the future in No. 12 Holger Rune and No. 30 Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard are of the same generation.

2002 - Ben Shelton (22)
The American World No. 14 is at his career-high ranking. He is the standout player of the class of 2002 and at this year’s Australian Open he reached the semi-finals for the second time at a major (also the 2023 US Open ). Three Italians in the Top 50 share his year of birth; World No. 17 Lorenzo Musetti, No. 34 Flavio Cobolli and No. 47 Luciano Darderi.

2001 - Jannik Sinner (23)
The World No. 1 is the best of a bunch that also includes British World No. 16 Jack Draper and the Czech No. 24 Jiri Lehecka. But the Italian is in a different class and has made the pinnacle of the PIF ATP Rankings his own with a 3,695-point lead over Zverev, the World No. 2, while 4,820 points lie between him and the third-placed Alcaraz. The Italian is currently on a 21-win streak after winning his third Grand Slam title at the recent Australian Open. His CV includes a total of 19 titles.

2000 - Sebastian Korda (24)
The American, who reached the final this season in Adelaide, is jostling with Felix Auger-Aliassime to be the best player in the PIF ATP Rankings born in 2000. Korda currently occupies No. 22, while the Canadian —who won the title in Adelaide— is No. 23 in the world. Their fellow turn-of-the-century babies include Czech World No. 25 Tomas Machac and Argentinians Sebastián Báez and Facundo Díaz Acosta, No. 31 and No. 69, respectively.

1999 - Alex de Minaur (25)
De Minaur is one of the newest members of the Top 10 of the PIF ATP Ranking. The Australian is now the World No. 8 and boasts a 6-1 record this season after winning two matches for his country in the United Cup and reaching the quarter-finals of the Australian Open (l. to Sinner). The next player born in 1999 is his compatriot Alexei Popyrin, champion of the ATP Masters 1000 in Canada last year, followed by the Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry and Canada’s Denis Shapovalov.

1998 - Casper Ruud (26)
The Norwegian faces tough competition to be the pick of 1998. The current No. 5 in the PIF ATP Rankings shares his year of birth with three-time Masters 1000 champion Stefanos Tsitsipas. However, with 12 ATP Tour titles and a career high ranking of No. 2, Ruud is the king of his age group. Other 26 year olds include French No. 15 Ugo Humbert and Argentina’s World No. 29 Francisco Cerundolo.

1997 - Alexander Zverev (27)
As many as four players born in 1997 are currently in the Top 10 of the PIF ATP Rankings. The highest-ranked of them is World No. 2 Alexander Zverev, a recent finalist at the Australian Open. The German, a 23-time champion, has won 471 matches on the ATP Tour and finished eight of the last nine seasons in the world’s Top 10. His generation includes No. 4 Taylor Fritz, No. 9 Tommy Paul and No. 10 Andrey Rublev.

1996 - Daniil Medvedev (28)
Medvedev is now something of an ATP Tour veteran after over ten years on the circuit. During that time he has won 20 titles and he is closing in on his 400th win (380-158). The current No. 7 in the PIF ATP Rankings is the cream of a crop that includes players such as Karen Khachanov and Matteo Berrettini, who have also enjoyed a spell among the Top 10.

1995 - Lorenzo Sonego (29)
The Italian will celebrate his 30th birthday this season, but he has already achieved a career first this year by reaching the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam. Sonego took his chances at the Australian Open, where only Shelton was able to fend him off in that round. Other standout players born in 1995 include Chile’s World No. 38 Nicolas Jarry and British former Top 10 player Cameron Norrie.

1994 - Jordan Thompson (30)
The Australian heads a batch of players that only has three representatives in the Top 100. Thompson boasts their loftiest rank at No. 28 in the world. He has one title to his name, from Los Cabos in 2024. Behind him are his compatriot, World No. 78 Christopher O’Connell, and the Brazilian Thiago Monteiro.

1993 - Marcos Giron (31)
The experience of the American currently sees him in the form of his life, and recently took him to the third round in Melbourne for the first time (l. to Sinner). The World No. 43, Giron is the best of the 1993 bunch ahead of its only other player in the Top 100, Spain’s Roberto Carballés Baena (No. 51).

1992 - Damir Dzumhur (32)
He peaked at No. 23 in the PIF ATP Rankings, but Dzumhur is still the highest ranked player of his age at No. 88 in the world. With three ATP Tour titles under his belt, he leads the Argentinian Federico Coria (No. 95) and Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics (No. 96). The group also includes Diego Schwartzman, who will be hanging up his racket in February in Buenos Aires.

1991 - Grigor Dimitrov (33)
The owner of one of the most graceful backhands on the ATP Tour, Dimitrov still possesses the talent that took him to the Top 3 in the world a few seasons ago and he now finds himself occupying No. 11. The Bulgarian has nine titles to his name and a career match record of 462-293. Pablo Carreno Busta, a former Top 10 player, is another of this generation’s big names still in action.

1990 - Jan-Lennard Struff (34)
Late bloomer Struff is now the world’s best player born in 1990 at No. 45 in the ranking. The German claimed his first title last season in Munich and was a finalist at the Madrid ATP Masters 1000 in 2023 at the age of 33. Two other Top 10 stars that are still playing and were born in the same year as Struff are Belgium’s David Goffin (No. 56) and Canadian Milos Raonic (No. 245).

1989 - Kei Nishikori (35)
The Japanese has enjoyed an impressive start to the season, reaching his first final in 6 years in Hong Kong. After a long period plagued by injuries, Nishikori is gradually working his way back towards the elite of the ATP Tour and currently resides in the Top 70.

1988 - Roberto Bautista Agut (36)
The only 1988-born player currently in the Top 100 of the PIF ATP Rankings is Spaniard Bautista Agut at No. 52 in the world. With 12 titles and over 400 wins, he is one of the most experienced players on tour. Big names such as Marin Cilic, the 2014 US Open champion and the now-retired Argentine legend Juan Martin del Potro were also born in ‘88.

1987 - Novak Djokovic (37)
Still defying the sands of time, Djokovic, who has with more major titles than any other player, the most weeks at No. 1 in the world, over 1,100 match wins, and is just one title short of 100, is still up there with the best of them as the sixth player in the PIF ATP Rankings. Besides the Serb, the 1987 generation includes active players such as Fabio Fognini (No. 89) and Albert Ramos Viñolas (No. 162).

1986 - Gael Monfils (38)
Following the retirement of Rafael Nadal last November, Gael Monfils is now the king of the class of ‘86. The indefatigable Frenchman is currently the No. 32 in the PIF ATP Rankings, after a start to the season that has yielded 9 wins from 11 matches. He claimed his 13th title in Auckland, before reaching the second round of the Australian Open. His compatriot Richard Gasquet is also 38.

1985 - Stan Wawrinka (39)
The king of longevity is, without a shadow of a doubt, Wawrinka who will turn 40 on 28 March. The oldest player in the world’s Top 1000 currently occupies No. 154 in the world. He has 16 singles titles to his name, three of them from Grand Slams (2014 Australian Open, 2015 French Open, 2016 US Open).

Did you know?
If we venture outside the Top 1000 of the PIF ATP Rankings we will find the youngest player with ATP points; France’s Moise Kouame, who was born in 2009 and is 15 years of age, sitting at No. 1,599 in the world. At the other extreme is 44-year-old US player Ryan Haviland, who was born in 1980. He is now the World No. 1,640.