Which Country Produces the Best Tennis Players on the ATP Tour?
Find out which nation has the most tennis players at the top of the ATP Rankings. Which countries have the most ATP players in the Top 100, Top 200, Top 500 and Top 1000 of the men’s singles tennis rankings?
With the beginning of the Open Era in tennis in 1968 and the development of technology that enabled fast transportation between countries and continents, tennis players from different regions of the world were able to play with each other on a regular basis. As a result, the level of tennis grew, and fans were able to enjoy international clashes not only at Grand Slam tournaments, but also smaller tournaments such as the ATP 500 and ATP 250, where today we can see more foreign players on the list of participants than from the country where the competition is held.
In 2024 in the top 10 of the ATP Ranking we have tennis players from 9 different countries, which emphasizes the international rivalry of this beautiful sport.
Which country is currently the best in men’s tennis?
Let’s see the stats on how many ATP players each nation has among the top 100, 200, 500 and 1,000 top tennis players in the ATP Rankings.
Most players in the Top 100 of the ATP Ranking
At the top, no surprises: The United States has 13 players, followed by France, Spain and Australia. On 5th place is Argentina, which in the past has had great tennis players like Guillermo Vilas, Juan Martín del Potro and David Nalbandian. On 9th place is Russia, which in turn has the only country with 2 players in the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings.
Most players in the Top 200 of the ATP Ranking
The United States still leads the top 200 and France is on second place. Italy has the most tennis players in the second 100 of the ATP Rankings thanks to which they have moved up to 3rd place on this chart.
Most players in the Top 500 of the ATP Ranking
Change in leadership position — France overtook the United States. Germany improved its position and Brazil appeared in 11th place. Brazilian tennis fans have been waiting all this time for a successor to Gustavo Kuerten, who was incredibly successful on the court.
Most players in the Top 1000 of the ATP Ranking
And a final chart showing countries by number of players in the Top 1000 in the ATP Rankings. Still, the high position of Argentina and Japan is surprising. It seemed that Russia, which has had great tennis players in the past, would be much higher in this ranking.
Best tennis continent
How many players does Europe, South America, North America, Africa, Asia and Australia have in the top 100, 200 and 1000 of the ATP Ranking?
Top tennis countries considering population.
Let’s see which country has the best ratio of tennis players in the ATP Top 1000 Rankin per 1 million population.
The best in this comparison is Croatia, which has 12 players in the ATP Top 1000 Ranking with a population of more than 4 million people. Other Balkan countries, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Harzegovina, as well as the Czech Republic and Estonia, are also in the lead, and from the big countries there are Australia, Italy and France.
This is the ratio of other countries with large populations.
Let’s further compare the performance of each continent.
Why does 4 times smaller Argentina have more tennis players than Brazil at the top of the ATP Rankings?
It seems that the proportions should be reversed. Great successful stars inspire the next generation. Guillermo Vilas reigned supreme in men’s tennis in the 1980s, and in the last decade tennis titles were won by Juan Martín del Potro, who ended his career in 2022. Argentine victories were staggered over time, bringing kids to the court in the 1980s, 1990s, as well as in 2010 and 2020.
Fans in Brazil had only one generation to follow Gustavo Kuerten’s victories. He played his last match quite a long time ago — in 2008, and currently the highest place in the ATP Ranking from Brazil is held by Thiago Seyboth Wild, who is in 79th position. Without victories at major tournaments, the media does not pay much attention to tennis, and the less popular the sport is, the fewer young athletes choose to play it.
Why do Balkan countries dominate tennis?
Athletes from countries such as Serbia and Croatia are known for their prowess and love of sports. They especially love team sports, and it’s no coincidence that one of the best basketball players in the NBA last year was Nikola Jokić, and in 2018 the Golden Ball, the most important individual award in soccer, was won by Luka Modrić from Croatia. The tennis GOAT is the Serbian — Novak Djoković. Anyone who has watched his matches knows that in addition to his talent, professionalism and love of hard work, he also has tremendous willpower to overcome difficult moments on the court, which happen constantly when you play for so many years at the highest level. So the right mentality and character helps a lot in achieving above-average sports results.
Which country will be the best in men’s tennis in the next decade?
Currently, among the top 1000 tennis players in the world, the United States (17), France (10), Spain (7) and Italy (7) have the most players under the age of 21. Among the young ATP players from these countries, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannis Sinner are playing at the world level, with Ben Shelton and Arthur Fils not far behind. It seems that these tennis players will be competing for major titles in the coming years when Novak Djoković steps off the stage. Therefore, it seems that the tennis ranking of the best countries should not change very much in the near future.
Check out also a similar article on women’s tennis: Which Country Produces the Best Tennis Players on the WTA Tour?
