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Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios has climbed further up the ranks of an exclusive club in the men's game with his Halle Open win over Stefanos Tsitsipas on Wednesday. Kyrgios is now third on the list of active male players with the most wins against top-10 players without ever breaking into the top-10 themselves.
Kyrgios defeated Tsitsipas 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 in the Halle Open fourth round for his fifth win on grass ahead of this year's Wimbledon Championships. It was Kyrgios' third win against the Greek in four matches.
There are certain players who always pose a challenge for the top-5 or top-10 players, despite being ranked much lower. Here's a look at three active tennis players who have never reached the top-10 in the ATP rankings but have recorded the most victories against top-10 opponents:
#1 Feliciano Lopez
One of the oldest male tennis players currently on the tour, 40-year-old Feliciano Lopez has the most wins against top-10 players without himself ever being ranked that high. The Spaniard has beaten a top-10 opponent 39 times on the ATP tour, with the last of those wins coming against Andrey Rublev in the group stage of the 2021 Davis Cup.
Lopez returned from a set down to defeat Rublev (World No. 5 back then) 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, getting the victory for Spain in the most prestigious team event on the ATP tour.
Among his 39 wins over top-10 players are three against Rafael Nadal and one over Novak Djokovic. One of Lopez's wins against Nadal came at the Queen's Club Championships in 2010, when Nadal was World No. 1.
The top-10 player who has been the victim of Lopez's top 10 wins (five) the most often is the now-retired Tomas Berdych. Lopez also has three wins each over David Ferrer and Milos Raonic.
The veteran Spanish player achieved a career-high ranking of No. 12 in 2015. He most recently participated in the 2022 Queen's Club Championships, losing in the qualifiers to top seed Emil Ruusuvuori.
#2 Philipp Kohlschreiber
German star Philipp Kohlschreiber is the next player on the list. Kohlschreiber has 25 wins over top-10 opponents, having reached a career-high ranking of No. 16 back in the 2012 season.
The last of those victories was against Novak Djokovic (ranked No. 1 at the time), at the 2019 Indian Wells Masters.
One of Kohlschreiber's most famous Grand Slam victories also came against Djokovic, at the 2009 French Open (when the Serb was ranked No. 4). The German has beaten three members of tennis' Big 4 at least once in his career.
Apart from Djokovic, Kohlschreiber has also beaten Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray once each.
Kohlschreiber has two wins each over David Ferrer, Nikolay Davydenko, James Blake and Fernando Verdasco. The 38-year-old's victory over Andy Roddick in an epic five-setter at the 2008 Australian Open is widely considered one of the most special wins of his career.
Kohlschreiber most recently played in the 2022 French Open qualifiers, losing in his first match.
#3 Nick Kyrgios
Nick Kyrgios' previously-mentioned win over Stefanos Tsitsipas at the 2022 Halle Open was his 24th career win over a top-10 opponent. In the process, the Aussie also improved his win-loss record against the current ATP top-10 to 17-16.
Among the current top-8, Rafael Nadal is the only player against whom Kyrgios has a negative head-to-head record.
So far this season, the 27-year-old has beaten three top-10 opponents, including Casper Ruud, Andrey Rublev and Tsitsipas. He has also beaten all the Big 3 members at least once in his career, when they were ranked inside the top-10.
Kyrgios has three wins in nine matches against Nadal and is yet to lose to Djokovic, having faced him twice. The Aussie also defeated Roger Federer in their first clash, which came back at the 2015 Madrid Masters.
All three of Kyrgios' wins over Tsitsipas came when the Greek was inside the top-10. Kyrgios also has two wins each over Stan Wawrinka, Alexander Zverev, Milos Raonic and Tomas Berdych.
He has a 24-39 overall win-loss record against top-10 opponents.
