A new name just rewrote the history books for Portuguese tennis. This Monday, Francisco Cabral climbed to a career-high 26th in the ATP doubles rankings, making him the highest-ranked Portuguese player ever. He surpassed the long-standing record held by João Sousa, who once reached 28th place in singles. It’s a significant moment, showing the quiet rise of Portuguese talent on the global tennis stage.
Cabral’s big jump came after a strong showing at the Winston-Salem tournament. Partnering with Austria’s Lucas Miedler, who stayed at 28th, the player from Porto reached the final last Saturday. They faced a tough Brazilian duo, Marcelo Melo and Rafael Matos. Interestingly, Matos was a former partner of Cabral. This marked their second final appearance together this season, following a win in Gstaad, Sweden. All this action happened just before the US Open, the year’s final Grand Slam event, kicked off.
For years, João Sousa’s 28th spot in the singles ranking stood as the pinnacle for Portuguese tennis. He achieved that feat back on May 16, 2016. That record represented a huge milestone for single-player achievement. Now, Cabral, a doubles specialist, has etched his name above it, moving up three positions to claim the top historical spot.
Beyond Cabral’s breakthrough, other Portuguese players are also making their mark. In men’s singles, Nuno Borges moved up one spot to 41st in the world. Jaime Faria and Henrique Rocha also saw gains, now ranked 117th and 167th respectively. The top of the men’s singles rankings remains unchanged, with Italy’s Jannik Sinner leading the pack. Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz is second, and Germany’s Alexander Zverev sits at third.
On the women’s side, there were no changes at the very top of the rankings. Belarus’s Aryna Sabalenka holds the number one spot, ahead of Poland’s Iga Swiatek and the USA’s Coco Gauff. Locally, Matilde Jorge is once again the highest-ranked Portuguese woman, climbing to 213th place. She recently moved past her sister, Francisca Jorge, who also improved her ranking to 219th.