Nuno Borges is in the top 50 and is the second best Portuguese tennis player in the history of the ranking.

This Monday, Nuno Borges became the second Portuguese tennis player ever to be ranked among the top 50 tennis players in the world, rising to 47th place in the ATP rankings after reaching the round of 16 at the Australian Open.

A historic performance at Melbourne Park – he was the first Portuguese player to finish eighth in the season’s first Grand Slam – saw 26-year-old Maiato jump 22 places in the world pecking order. and number one in the country achieved the best ranking of his career this Monday.

Borges in one fell swoop overtook three compatriots on the list of the best ever in domestic tennis: Gastan Elias (he was 57th in the ATP hierarchy), Rui Machado (59th) and Frederico Gil (62nd).

The northerner is second only to Joao Sousa, the best Portuguese player of all time, who, in addition to four ATP titles on his resume, reached 28th place on May 16, 2016, even before becoming the first Portuguese player to reach the round. 16 minutes of Grand Slams at the US Open in 2018 and Wimbledon the following year.

This Monday, Borges actually achieved one of the biggest rises in the updated ranking, which is still headed by Novak Djokovic, despite the fact that the Serbian was unable to defend his title at Melbourne Park, losing in the semi-finals to Jannik Sinner, who will continue his career. to win, to become a champion.

Even despite his Australian Open triumph, the 22-year-old Italian remains fourth in the ATP pecking order behind “Djoko”, Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz and the man he beat in the final, Russian Daniil Medvedev, who is ranked third.

In the top 10, the biggest change was the fall of Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, who lost three positions and is now in 10th place.

Also moving up in doubles was Francisco Cabral, who is now ranked 49th after being eliminated alongside Britain’s Henry Patten in the second round in Australia.

In the women’s hierarchy, Poland’s Iga Swiatek continues to lead, despite being eliminated in the third round in Melbourne, where Aryna Sabalenka lifted the trophy for the second year in a row.

The American Coco Gauff, the reigning United States Open champion, who lost to the Belarusian in the semifinals, took the podium.

Defeated Australian Open finalist Zheng Qingwen of China moved up eight places to seventh in a ranking in which Portugal’s Francisca Jorge is ranked 207th.