Brandon Nakashima's San Diego triumph gives major boost for Americans in ATP rankings

The new set of ATP rankings was released on Monday and nearly a fifth (18%) of the top 50 consists of American players.

Brandon Nakashima is the latest entrant, having won the San Diego Open by beating compatriot Marcos Giron 6-4, 6-4 in the final. He subsequently jumped 21 spots to No. 48 in the ATP rankings, thus being the ninth American in the top 50.

21 countries are represented in the top 50 but none has more players than the United States. They are followed by Spain, who have six players while Italy, Great Britain and Russia have four each.

There isn't a single American in the top 10 of the ATP rankings, with Taylor Fritz being the highest-ranked player in the nation at No. 12. The Indian Wells champion is just 145 points behind 10th-ranked Jannik Sinner.

World No. 19 Frances Tiafoe is the second-ranked American in the world rankings. The 24-year-old produced a spectacular run at the US Open, reaching the semifinals before losing to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz.

The 23-year-old recently competed at the Laver Cup, where he lost to Novak Djokovic but beat Stefanos Tsitsipas to help Team World win the tournament.

Tommy Paul is the third and final player in the top 30 of the ATP rankings and is ranked 28th in the world. He helped the United States reach the quarterfinals of the Davis Cup by winning two out of three singles matches during the group stage.

Big-serving Maxime Cressy is next on the list at 34th. He has produced some good moments this season with his serve-and-volley game and won his maiden ATP singles title at the Hall of Fame Open in Newport.

Reilly Opelka suffered a massive drop in the rankings after being unable to defend his runner-up points from last year at the Canadian Open. However, he still remains in the top 50 and is 38th at present.

John Isner and Sebastian follow at 43rd and 44th respectively, while Jenson Brooksby is 46th.

United States will face Italy in the Davis Cup quarterfinals

Taylor Fritz during United States' Davis Cup tie against Kazakhstan

The United States are in the quarterfinals of the Davis Cup after finishing second in their group behind the Netherlands. The Americans beat Great Britain and Kazakhstan to seal their spot in the last eight of the tournament.

Here, they will be up against a strong Italy side who could have both Matteo Berrettini and Jannik Sinner participating in the tournament come November.