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While the 'Big 3' in tennis continue their dominance of the ATP World Rankings, the next few spots have seen churn and there seem to be many contenders for a coveted top-10 ranking. The 2020 ATP Tour is all set to begin with the newly-minted ATP Cup getting players and fans warmed up for the Australian Open.
With the emergence of the young guns on the tour, the race for the all-important ranking points is more competitive than ever. With that in mind, here we take a look at three top contenders who can break into the top 10 of the world rankings for the first time by the end of January.
#3 Denis Shapovalov
With little to show for himself, barring his third-round showings, at the 2019 Australian Open and US Open, the Canadian is raring to go. Denis Shapovalov is firmly placed to take in some big ranking points and climb the ladder of the world rankings. At a career high of no. 15, he is currently the second highest ranked player in the world to have never been in the top 10 (only behind Argentina's Diego Schwartzman). This puts Shapovalov in a very good position to break into the big league and begin his season on a high.
#2 Diego Schwartzman
Although he is place a spot above Shapovalov in the world rankings, Diego Schwartzman's pursuit of the elusive top 10 spot is a little trickier. Whether he chooses to play more number of tournaments in January 2020 will have a lot of bearing on him breaking into the top 10. chwartzman then captured the title at the 2019 Los Cabos Open, defeating Taylor Fritz in the final, 7–6(8–6), 6–3. It marked his first-ever title at a hard court tournament, and third ATP title.
#1 Felix Auger Aliassime
If there is one player who has everything to play for, it is youngster Felix Auger Aliassime. The rising star of the Canadian tennis played in only one main draw match in January 2019 and has only a few qualifier points to defend coming into the season this year. A total of 894 points behind the no. 10 ranked Gael Monfils, Aliassime will need a couple of deep runs at ATP tournaments and a good showing at the Australian Open to catapult himself into the big league. The stage is set for the arrival of these new guns on the tour in big way and it's only a matter of who leads the pack into the future.
