Ben Shelton joins the club: Six players born in the 2000s now in top 10

For the first time in the ATP Rankings, there are now six players born in the 2000s, led by Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. The world No. 1 and No. 2 have been the protagonists of recent seasons – sharing the last six Grand Slams and maintaining a significant points difference over their pursuers.

However, they are not the only ones from the 2000s generation who are achieving great things on Tour. This 2025 has seen the definitive breakthrough of another pair of stars who have managed to establish themselves in the top 10. The most recent to enter the elite ranks was Ben Shelton, joining Jack Draper, Lorenzo Musetti, and Holger Rune.

Shelton notably reached the semifinals of the Stuttgart Open this week, falling to Alexander Zverev in two tie-breaks. The American solidified his best-ever ranking as world No. 10, starting the grass-swing in the best possible way, and still has chances to secure a spot among the top 8 seeds at Wimbledon, should he have a strong run in Halle.

At Roland Garros, the changing of the guard was already evident: in the quarterfinals, there were three matchups between players from the 2000s and players from the 1990s, and in each of them, the younger players claimed victory.

The top 10 is completed by three other players born in the 1990s: Alexander Zverev, Taylor Fritz, and Tommy Paul – in addition to the eternal Novak Djokovic, the sole representative of players born in the 1980s in the top 10. There are increasingly fewer players from "Nole's" generation in the rankings, with only five of them remaining within the world's top 100.