5 ATP players to make their breakthrough in 2022 ft. Holger Rune and Jack Draper

Another season of tennis has come to an end. As usual, most of the biggest titles were snatched up by Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. However, the stunning rise of Carlos Alcaraz dented their supremacy by a fair margin. The teenager became the first player to defeat the two legends back-to-back on clay.

Plenty of already established players like Stefanos Tsitsipas, Casper Ruud and Andrey Rublev also found considerable success in 2022. Felix Auger-Aliassime has been on the tour for quite a while now and finally won his first title after eight runner-up finishes at the start of the year. The Canadian also won another three titles towards the end of the season.

There's also a new crop of contenders on the horizon who have made their presence felt with their performances. Here's a look at the five players who had a breakout season:

#5 Ben Shelton

After some brilliant performances during his collegiate career, Ben Shelton has made quite an impression on the ATP tour this year. He reached his first Challenger final in July, after which he made his ATP main draw debut at the Atlanta Open.

The American was victorious upon his debut as he defeated Ramkumar Ramanathan. He put up a fight against John Isner in the next round but lost to him in three sets. Shelton then received a wildcard to compete in the Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati. He upset World No. 5 Casper Ruud in the second round to score his first win over a top-10 player but lost to Cameron Norrie soon afterward.

Shelton made his Grand Slam debut at the US Open but lost in the first round. He then announced that he'd focus solely on his tennis career and wouldn't be returning to college. Towards the end of the season, the 20-year-old won three consecutive titles on the Challenger circuit, which helped him crack the top 100 of the ATP rankings.

#4 Jack Draper

Jack Draper made a fantastic start to the year, winning four titles on the Challenger circuit. At the Eastbourne International, the young Brit reached his first semifinal at the ATP level. He notched up his maiden Grand Slam win at Wimbledon but lost to Alex de Minaur in the second round.

Draper then made it to the quarterfinals of the Canadian Open, his first at a Masters 1000 tournament. He also scored his first top-10 victory by defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas en route to the last eight. The 20-year-old also reached the third round of the US Open, his best result in a Major so far.

Draper qualified for the Next Gen ATP Finals and advanced to the last four, losing to Brandon Nakashima. The following week, he reached a career-high ranking of No. 45. The Brit has shown a lot of potential and is certainly a player to look out for.

#3 Maxime Cressy

Maxime Cressy at the 2022 Winston-Salem Open.

Maxime Cressy defeated players like Reilly Opelka and Grigor Dimitrov to reach the final of his very first tournament of the year, the Melbourne Summer Set. Even though he lost to Rafael Nadal, his run to the title round helped him crack the top 100 of the ATP rankings, jumping all the way to No. 75.

A couple of weeks later, Cressy reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time at the Australian Open. After a string of mostly disappointing results, he made it to his second final of the year at Eastbourne but lost to Taylor Fritz.

The American clinched his maiden ATP title at the Hall of Fame Open in Newport in July, following which he reached a career-high ranking of No. 31.

#2 Francisco Cerundolo

Francisco Cerundolo at the 2022 Gijon Open.

Francisco Cerundolo reached the quarterfinals of the Argentina Open in February, which helped him break into the ATP top 100. The following week, he made it to the semifinals of the Rio Open.

Cerundolo made his Masters 1000 debut at the Miami Open and advanced all the way to the semifinals, scoring wins over players like Frances Tiafoe and Gael Monfils. He then claimed his maiden ATP title at the Swedish Open, defeating compatriot Sebastian Baez in the final.

Cerundolo continued his good run of form at the following week's Hamburg Open, reaching yet another semifinal. The Argentine's string of good results propelled him to a career-high ranking of No. 24. Although his results have been underwhelming since then, it has been a positive season for him overall.

#1 Holger Rune

Holger Rune's year got off to a tough start as he could only manage a handful of victories across the first three months. He slowly started to find his footing during the clay swing and won his first career title at the BMW Open. The teenager then made it to the semifinals of the Lyon Open and had a memorable run to the quarterfinals of the French Open, his first at a Grand Slam.

Rune went through a rough patch after that, losing in the first round of his next six tournaments. He then started to win matches to build up his confidence and managed to finish the season on a high. He reached his second final of the year at the Sofia Open but lost to Marc-Andrea Huesler.

The Dane made it to yet another final the following week and defeated Stefanos Tsitisipas to win the Stockholm Open. Rune continued to ride the wave of momentum to make it to yet another final, this time in Basel. However, he lost to Felix Auger-Aliassime.

Rune's final tournament of the season was the Paris Masters. He saved three match points in the first round to defeat Stan Wawrinka. The teenager then scored wins over five top-10 players, including Novak Djokovic in the final, to win his maiden Masters title.

Rune's incredible run in Paris resulted in a top-10 debut. Based on his performances this year, it's only a matter of time before he's dominating the tour.

Edited by Nihal Taraporvala