Jannik Sinner cracks top 20 while still a teenager, joins Rafael Nadal & Novak Djokovic in exclusive list of players

Italian teenager Jannik Sinner achieved a new career-high ATP ranking of No. 19 on Monday. That has made Sinner the 12th youngest player to crack the men's top 20 since computer rankings were first introduced in 1973.

Notably, the list of players who have been ranked inside the top 20 as teenagers includes all-time greats such as Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Pete Sampras, Jim Courier and Andy Murray.

Jannik Sinner has witnessed a meteoric rise in the rankings over the past couple of years, climbing around 500 spots since the start of 2019. The 19-year-old even made his first Masters 1000 final in Miami earlier this month.

With his recent surge in the rankings, Jannik Sinner has become the 12th youngest player to be ranked inside the top 20. Although the names above Sinner achieved the same feat at an even lower age, it is pertinent to note that the Italian only started competing on the pro tour in mid-2019.

The full list of the youngest players to have been ranked in the ATP top 20, along with their age and date of their entry, is as follows:

1. Pete Sampras - 18 years 198 days - 26/02/1990

2. Andrei Medvedev - 18 years 217 days - 05/04/1993

3. Goran Ivanisevic - 18 years 313 days - 23/07/1990

4. Rafael Nadal - 18 years 315 days - 04/04/2005

5. Lleyton Hewitt - 18 years 326 days - 17/01/2000

6. Andy Roddick - 18 years 355 days - 20/08/2001

7. Richard Gasquet - 19 years 16 days - 04/07/2005

8. Felix Auger-Aliassime - 19 years 10 days - 19/08/2019

9. Andy Murray - 19 years 98 days - 21/08/2006

10. Novak Djokovic - 19 years 140 days - 09/10/2006

11. Jim Courier - 19 years 207 days - 12/03/1990

12. Jannik Sinner - 19 years 245 days - 19/04/2021

🇮🇹 Jannik Sinner tomorrow will join the ATP Top 20 at 19y 245dHere the youngers (than him) to reach this achievement since 1990 pic.twitter.com/zDyGPbcX0E

— TennisMyLife (@TennisMyLife68) April 18, 2021

Jannik Sinner following in the footsteps of Pete Sampras, Rafael Nadal & Novak Djokovic

Pete Sampras serves at the 1990 US Open

Jannik Sinner has tasted enormous success at a very young age, which is often the hallmark of future greatness. 14-time Major winner Pete Sampras is the youngest top 20 entrant in the history of the ATP rankings, reaching the milestone in his career for the first time on 26 February 1990.

Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, who turned pro in 2001 and 2003 respectively, were also remarkably consistent in their early years on the main tour. Nadal first cracked the top 20 when he reached his maiden career Masters final - which incidentally was also at Miami (2004).

Djokovic, on the other hand, reached the top 20 in the rankings for the first time in 2006. That was on the back of an inspiring run to the quarterfinals at Roland Garros, which he followed up by winning his first two career ATP titles in Amersfoort and Metz.