Top 5 performances by unseeded male tennis players in 2018

4. Nikoloz Basilashvili, China Open

Nikoloz Basilashvili acknowledges the crowd after winning the China Open

Nikoloz Basilashvili won his first ATP title this July. It was a fantastic performance, especially considering he had to play the qualifiers to take part in the tournament.

But his best title victory surely has to be the China Open triumph, as he had to beat 3 top-20 players along the way.

In the very first round Basilashvili faced the powerful Jack Sock, who was ranked 18 at that time. He lost the first set in a close tiebreaker but was steady on serve in the second and took it 7-5. In the third set he battered Sock's serve and won the match by taking the set 6-2.

After reaching the semifinals unscathed, the Georgian played Kyle Edmund. He grabbed the first set in the tiebreak 8-6 and upped his return game in the second, winning it 6-4 to book a spot in the finals.

There, he managed to beat No. 1 seed Juan Martin del Potro fairly comfortably (6-4, 6-4) to get his hands on the trophy.