Being an ATP champion does not guarantee that you will be able to maintain a high ranking for the rest of your career.
This has happened to many talented players over the years, including a former Australian Open semifinalist who is now ranked outside the top 250.
That is nowhere near as dramatic as the fall that a former Wimbledon ‘dark horse’ has suffered in the last few years, dropping outside the top 900.
Now another ATP title winner has suffered a rankings drop, which places him in his worst position since 2018.
Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty ImagesYoshihito Nishioka falls to his lowest ATP ranking in seven years
That is the case for Yoshihito Nishioka, the former world number 24 who has won three ATP titles in his career.
Nishioka has also been a finalist at the Washington Open before, where his losing streak began this year.
After being beaten by Flavio Cobolli in the second round of the Washington Open, where he reached the final in 2022, Nishioka fell outside the top 100 as this was the same week that he won his third ATP title in Atlanta last year.
Nishioka then went on to lose nine matches in a row, winning just two of the 20 sets he played during that time.
This culminated in a first round defeat at his home tournament of the Japan Open, which was won by Carlos Alcaraz, and now Nishioka has fallen even further down the rankings.
In the latest update of the ATP rankings, Nishioka has fallen 16 places down to world number 173, which is his lowest ranking since August 2018.
However, after suffering this drop down the rankings, Nishioka has instantly responded and ended his losing streak at the Shanghai Masters, winning three consecutive straight sets matches to come through qualifying and reach the second round of the main draw.
Yoshihito Nishioka vs Andrey Rublev Head-to-Head
Nishioka beat Alexander Shevchenko to win his first Masters 1000 main draw match in nearly 14 months, and has now set up a second round meeting with 13th seed Andrey Rublev.
This will be a sixth meeting between Nishioka and Rublev, but first since the Paris Masters in 2023.
Rublev leads the head-to-head, but Nishioka has won two matches against the Russian on hard courts before.
YearTournamentResult2019Sydney International (R16)Nishioka beat Rublev, 6-3 6-12021ATP Cup (RR)Rublev beat Nishioka, 6-1 6-32022Washington Open (SF)Nishioka beat Rublev, 6-3 6-42023Madrid Open (R32)Rublev beat Nishioka, 6-2 7-52023Paris Masters (R32)Rublev beat Nishioka, 6-4 6-3
If Nishioka is able to beat Rublev again then he will continue to climb up the rankings and approach a return to the top 150.
The sixth chapter of their match at the Shanghai Masters will take place on Saturday, October 4.