Longest gaps between top-10 appearances in ATP rankings in history ft. Grigor Dimitrov
Grigor Dimitrov’s emphatic run at the Miami Open will see him return to the top-10 of the ATP rankings, even if he were to lose Sunday’s final against Jannik Sinner, for the first time since 2018.
The Bulgarian’s 2024 season has been nothing short of spectacular. The wins over Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev in Miami aside, he is also a two-time finalist - winning the trophy in Brisbane.
The return to the top-10 then was long coming. It, however, does not make the long-awaited return any less exceptional. In fact, his gap of 260 weeks between the two top-10 appearances is the third-longest in the history of ATP rankings. Here, we take a look at all three instances in detail:
#3 Grigor Dimitrov - 260 weeks (November 2018 to April 2024)
Grigor Dimitrov was a regular feature in the top-10 for the better part of the 2010s, but a loss of form saw him drop out of the elite bracket at the back end of 2018.
While the Bulgarian continued to post the odd win over a top player, he was struggling to string together a good run.
That, however, changed last year. Dimitrov made his biggest final since 2017 at the 2023 Paris Masters while also posting seven wins over top-10 players in 2023 - equaling the figure from 2019-2022 combined.
Come 2024, he has already lifted a title and made a Masters 1000 final at the Miami Open.
The rediscovered consistency has been key to the Bulgarian’s return to the top-10 of the ATP rankings after 260 weeks, as he himself put it during his press conference after the Miami Open semifinal win over Alexander Zverev:
"I have been able to put those matches back-to-back, I think the consistency of beating top players, that to me is way bigger success than anything else," Grigor Dimitrov said. "I mean, if you do that, you get the ranking. If you do that, things are just getting better for you. But in order to do, it's where it all comes through."
"The discipline, the hard work, you know, all the dedication, the adjustment to very different players throughout that time, I mean, you need to be able to do that on a constant basis... I think the discipline brought me I think to that moment. There is nothing else," he added.
#2 Albert Costa - 264 weeks (May 1997 to June 2002)
A few years before Rafael Nadal made the French Open his bastion, another Spaniard, Albert Costa, had tasted big success on the stage.
The now-retired Lleida-born player lifted his only Grand Slam trophy at the tournament in 2002, ascending to a career-high of World No. 6 soon after.
Surprisingly that win was not the beginning of a stint at the top, but in fact, a long-awaited return to the elite bracket.
Costa debuted on the Tour in 1993 and had two Grand Slam quarterfinals to show for in his first four years. He would drop out of the top-10 in May 1997 and faded into the backdrop - albeit only temporarily.
The Spaniard’s form began to improve again as he made back-to-back second week appearances at a Grand Slam for the first time at the 2001 US Open and 2022 Australian Open before winning the French Open and returning to the top-10.
#1 Gilles Simon - 308 weeks (October 2009 to September 2015)
Gilles Simon was a regular feature on Tour for two full decades, having made his debut as an 18-year-old in 2002.
The Frenchman amassed over 500 singles wins over the course of his career. His elegant all-court game stood the test of time against an increasingly baseline-oriented and power-centric approach to tennis.
He debuted in the top-10 and peaked at No. 7 in 2008, just six years into being on the Tour. A strong 2009 season followed as he made his first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the Australian Open, but he could not sustain the success for long and dropped out of the elite bracket towards the back end of that year.
Five years down the line, he was on the rise again after having made his second Masters 1000 final at the 2014 Shanghai Masters. The next year, he made his second Grand Slam quarterfinal, at the Wimbledon Championships this time.
The run at the All England Club catapulted him back in touching distance of the top-10, a feat he achieved in September that year. Simon continued to play on the tour for seven more years, picking up two more trophies (both in 2018) before retiring at the 2022 Paris Masters in front of a boisterous home crowd.