ATP Challenger 100 Moldova Challenger
Sakellaridis captures Moldova Open title and rises to a career-high No. 153
Sakellaridis wins Moldova Open, his second Challenger title, moving up to world No. 153 Career high
Stefanos Sakellaridis completed a clear clay-court objective in Chisinau by winning the Moldova Open at the National Tennis Center. The 21-year-old Greek beat Romanian qualifier Cezar Cretu 6-7(1), 6-3, 6-3 in the final to secure the second ATP Challenger Tour trophy of his career.
On a mostly sunny but windy afternoon, Sakellaridis recovered after losing the opening set and displayed composure across two hours and 39 minutes. He delivered three aces, won 68% of his first-service points and claimed 52% of the total points to take the match.
“I am very happy winning this title,” Sakellaridis said. “My goal at the beginning of the clay-court season was to win a title on this surface and this is my last tournament on clay before the start of the grass swing. I was very focused this week and managed to turn this match around today.”
The victory follows his maiden Challenger title in New Delhi earlier this year and highlights continued progress over recent seasons. “That was great,” he said. “It was unexpected because I did not feel great about my game before the tournament. The day before it started, I changed my racquet and it clicked from the very first ball. I also had a good feeling during my first match. I managed to keep the momentum throughout the whole tournament. The support was also great and eventually winning the title was amazing, especially after coming back from 5-2 down in the final. It was very dramatic but created amazing memories for me.”
Arriving in Chisinau at a career-high ranking of world No. 197, Sakellaridis earned €23,750 and 100 ATP ranking points for the title, which will move him to a new career-high of world No. 153. “I would really like to continue moving up the rankings and playing bigger events,” said the Greek, who came in ranked No. 197.
He credited steady work and his training base at the Piatti Tennis Academy. “It has been good work over the last couple of years. I have been working on my game, and it has started to pay off. But there is still a long way ahead, and I hope that I can keep going and stay hungry for more. I would really like to continue moving up the rankings and playing bigger events.”
“It is a great experience there, especially with Riccardo Piatti, who has worked with so many top players. He is helping me a lot,” he said. Sakellaridis adapted better than most to the windy conditions and praised the new complex and the host city. Sakellaridis overcame “unpredictable” wind throughout the week.
“It’s my first time here. I went to the city center and it is very beautiful. I am happy to be here,” he stated.
“I believe a lot in my game. I can do many different things on the court. I can create a lot of opportunities and be dangerous during matches. But there is still a lot of work to do. I need to bring more spin into my shots, be more aggressive and also become more consistent on my serve. There is still a bit of fine-tuning to do, and then we will see what I can achieve in the future.”
ATP
Sinner’s serve numbers reveal a mixed picture despite his dominance
Sinner’s serve stats show elite power, but his first-serve percentage still leaves room for growth.
Jannik Sinner’s serve has long been viewed as a major part of his rise to the top of the men’s game, yet the numbers from the past year tell a more complicated story.
The world No 1 adjusted his service motion shortly before he began establishing himself as a leading force on the ATP Tour, and that weapon stood out again when he defended his Wimbledon title earlier this month.
After losing the US Open final to Carlos Alcaraz last September, Sinner made it clear that he wanted more variety and consistency on serve. His own words at the time showed how deliberate that change was:
“I can say that I’m gonna become a better tennis player and I’m gonna change a couple of things on the serve, just small things, but, they can make big differences and then we see how it goes,” said Sinner. after that defeat against Alcaraz in New York.
“I’m looking forward to play these matches again, something new is now that I’m not No 1 anymore. Now you chase, it’s different.
“Maybe I will lose some matches from now on, but I will try to do some changes, trying to be a bit more unpredictable as a player and because I think that’s what I have to do, trying to become a better tennis player.”
Even with his strong recent run, the ATP Tour figures for the last 12 months show that there is still work to be done in one area. Sinner ranks 35th in first serve percentage at 63.8%, well behind Alexander Zverev, who leads the list at 72.5%.
The Italian, however, is far more dominant once the first serve lands. He leads the tour in service points won at 80.9%, just ahead of Reilly Opelka on 80.8% and Taylor Fritz on 79.7%.
He also tops service games won at 92.9%, underlining how difficult he is to break. Opelka follows on 90.6%, with Ben Shelton third at 90.4% and Alcaraz at 89.9%.
One remaining area is ace production. Sinner is 27th in that category with an average of 8.2 per match, while Opelka leads with 18.5, followed by Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard on 15.1 and Fritz on 14.1.
ATP
Sinner climbs to No 4 on all-time prize money list after Wimbledon defence
Sinner’s Wimbledon defence lifts him to No 4 on the all-time prize money list in 2026.
Jannik Sinner’s successful Wimbledon title defence brought more than another major trophy. It also lifted the Italian to No 4 on the all-time career prize money list.
Before Wimbledon 2026, Sinner sat at No 6, with Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer occupying the top three spots and Alexander Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz positioned above him. Zverev had recently passed both Alcaraz and Sinner after his French Open run, but the order shifted again once Sinner collected $4,830,756 (£3,600,000) for his latest Wimbledon triumph.
That result leaves Sinner close to becoming only the fourth player to move beyond $70m in career prize money. He has already earned $11,620,364 in 2026 and is on track to break the $20m barrier for the first time in a season.
His rise has been rapid. Last year, he took in $19,120,641, a total that included a record $5,071,000 for winning the ATP Finals undefeated. He finished second on the 2025 earnings list behind Alcaraz, who made $21,354,778, after leading the way in 2024 with $19,735,703.
At the end of the 2024 season, Sinner stood on $37,238,688. Since the start of the 2025 campaign, he has added another $32,347,873. From just $36 in prize money in his first professional year, he now sits on $69,586,561.
Zverev is fifth with $68,392,312, while Alcaraz is on $64,997,598 after not adding to his tally since April because of injury. Andy Murray has fallen to No 7 on $64,687,542, with Daniil Medvedev eighth on $52,192,594. Djokovic, Sinner, Zverev, Alcaraz and Medvedev are the only active players to have passed $40m.
Djokovic remains far ahead in first place with $194,656,816, including $3,000,801 earned in 2026. Nadal is second on $134,946,100 and Federer third on $130,594,339.
ATP French Open Grand Slam
Auger-Aliassime Reaches Career-High No. 4 After Breakthrough at Roland Garros
Auger-Aliassime rises to No. 4 after best Roland Garros run, tying second-highest Canadian rank. Now
Felix Auger-Aliassime moved to a career-high No. 4 in the ATP rankings following his deepest run at Roland Garros, where the 25-year-old reached the quarterfinals for the first time before losing to eventual finalist Flavio Cobolli. The result completed a personal Grand Slam milestone: having previously reached the quarterfinals or better at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open, he became the first Canadian man to reach the quarterfinals or better at all four majors in his career.
The rise from No. 6 to No. 4 surpasses his prior best of No. 5 and places him tied for the second-highest-ranked Canadian in ATP or WTA rankings history. The only other Canadians to reach the top four are Milos Raonic and Bianca Andreescu. Raonic went as high as No. 3 in 2016, following his run to the Wimbledon final that year, and Andreescu peaked at No. 4 in 2019 after winning the US Open.
Canadian tennis has seen seven players reach the top 10 in either ATP or WTA history, with official rankings available since 1973 for the ATP and 1975 for the WTA.
Auger-Aliassime still has ground to cover to move higher in the standings. He is 2,865 points behind the current world No. 3, Alexander Zverev, with the rankings showing Zverev at 7,305 points and Auger-Aliassime at 4,440.
The Canadian will shift his focus to grass. He begins his grass-court season this week at the ATP 250 event in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, entering as the No. 1 seed. After a first-round bye he will open against either Hubert Hurkacz or Marton Fucsovics.
The new ranking reflects a season of important progress for Auger-Aliassime and cements his place among the highest-ranked Canadians in modern tennis history.
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