Nick Kyrgios hits lowest ranking in 10 years, Alex de Minaur reaches career high

Kieran Francis

Nick Kyrgios hits lowest ranking in 10 years, Alex de Minaur reaches career high image

Crippling injuries has seen Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios' ranking plummet to its lowest figure in 10 years.

While four other Australian men, including Alex de Minaur, achieved career-high rankings.

The Sporting News has all the latest on Australia's men's tennis rankings.

Nick Kyrgios ranking tanks outside 400

Kyrgios has seen his ranking drop to 469, which is his lowest ranking since 2013, when he was on the rise as an exciting tennis talent.

Knee and wrist injuries have seen Kyrgios only play one ATP match in 2023 - a straight sets loss to China's Yibing Wu at Stuttgart in June.

The 28-year-old has only played four ATP matches in total since reaching the quarter-finals of US Open 2022.

With a lack of rankings points being accumulated, Kyrgios has seen his ranking plummet, especially when he lost the points gained for his run at Flushing Meadows last year.

However, Kyrgios does have a protected ranking of 21, which is granted when a player is injured for six months or more.

As Kyrgios returned from injury for a single match in June against Wu, he can use this protected ranking for entry to his next nine tournaments or for the next nine months, whichever occurs first.

Alex de Minaur edges closer to top 10

De Minaur has been rewarded with his recent consistency, earning a career-high ranking of 12 in the last release.

A quarter-final at the US Open propelled De Minaur to 12th, adding to his impressive resume of 2023 results.

The 24-year-old won at Acapulco earlier this year, while he also reached the final at the Canada Masters, Los Cabos and Queen's Club.

Alex De Minaur
(Getty Images)

Three other Aussies reach career-high rankings

Aside from De Minaur, Australia has five other players ranked in the top 55, as men's tennis Down Under enjoys a resurgence with three achieving career high marks.

Max Purcell's quarter-final appearance at the Canada Masters has seen him become Australia's no.2 ranked player at 43 - in a meteoric rise over the past 12 months.

Chris O'Connell, who knocked Purcell out of the US Open, has surged to a career-best 53, while Rinky Hijikata's fourth-round at Flushing Meadows has propelled him to 82.

Other Australians in the top 55 include Alexei Popyrin (45), Aleksandar Vukic (50) and Jordan Thompson (55).

Australian men's tennis rankings

Note: Career-high bolded

Ranking  Change  Name Points
12 +1 Alex de Minaur 2,685
43 - Max Purcell 1,047
45 -4 Alexei Popyrin 1,030
50 - Aleksandar Vukic 947
53 +16 Christopher O'Connell 930
55 -4 Jordan Thompson 916
74 +4 Thanasi Kokkinakis 766
82 +28 Rinky Hijikata 727
94 -7 Jason Kubler 643
129 -18 James Duckworth 476
167 +7 Marc Polmans 367
469 -335  Nick Kyrgios 90

*Last updated September 12, 2023

Kieran Francis

Kieran Francis Photo

Kieran Francis is a senior editor at The Sporting News based in Melbourne, Australia. He started at Sportal.com.au before being a part of the transition to Sporting News in 2015. Just prior to the 2018 World Cup, he was appointed chief editor of Goal.com in Australia. He has now returned to The Sporting News where his passions lay in football, AFL, poker and cricket - when he is not on holiday.