Taylor Fritz has extended his winning streak after reaching the semifinals of the Japan Open.
Fritz got people talking after beating Carlos Alcaraz at the Laver Cup, and he has been able to continue his momentum at the Japan Open.
The American is a former champion in Tokyo, and Fritz has beaten Nuno Borges, Gabriel Diallo and now Sebastian Korda to reach the semifinals once again.
Fritz has won more matches than any other player since June, and his latest victory could even impact Novak Djokovic.
Taylor Fritz set to overtake Novak Djokovic in the ATP rankings after reaching Japan Open semifinals
After Djokovic beat Fritz at the US Open, it meant that he overtook the 2024 US Open finalist and rose up to world number four in the ATP rankings.
There were 155 points separating the two players, with Fritz knowing that a semifinal appearance at the Japan Open would enable him to reclaim his status as world number four.
World number one Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have a huge lead at the top of the live ATP rankings, followed by Alexander Zverev, then Fritz and Djokovic.
| ATP Rankings | Live Ranking Point Total | Points defending this year |
| 1. Carlos Alcaraz | 11,240 | 500 |
| 2. Jannik Sinner | 10,550 | 2,500 |
| 3. Alexander Zverev | 5,980 | 1,800 |
| 4. Taylor Fritz | 4,865 | 1,210 |
| 5. Novak Djokovic | 4,830 | 650 |
Fritz has 1210 ranking points to defend until the end of the 2025 season, compared to Djokovic who has just 650.
This means that Fritz still has work to do to maintain his lead over Djokovic, but it could be more consequential than it may appear on the surface.
Why is Novak Djokovic falling outside the top four significant?
Djokovic is in the latter stages of his career, and plays significantly less tournaments at 38 years old.
Despite reaching the semifinals of all four Grand Slams this year, Djokovic finds himself outside the top four of the live ATP rankings.
This is particularly significant, as it means that Djokovic could have to play either Alcaraz or Sinner from the quarterfinals of Grand Slams and Masters 1000 tournaments.
Djokovic has been beaten by either Alcaraz or Sinner at three of the four majors this year, and has openly admitted that he will struggle to beat them in best-of-five sets matches.
This ranking change will impact the 24-time Grand Slam champion at his next tournament, as Djokovic plays the Shanghai Masters, where he reached the final last year.
Despite being below him in the live rankings, Djokovic is actually ahead of Fritz in the live race to the ATP Finals.
Receive exclusive tennis news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
