Monaco climbs 62 ranking spots with Houston title

Juan Monaco’s ranking fluctuation has been nothing short of a roller-coaster over the past month. It went in the right direct for once on Monday, not long after the 32-year-old Argentine upset Jack Sock in the final of the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship.

Monaco started March clinging to a top 100 spot at No. 98 in the world. He dipped to 108th midway through the month before plummeting to 148th in early April. That precipitous drop came after Monaco’s points from a 2015 Miami quarterfinal run flew off the board. But he did not playe in between Miami and Monte-Carlo lost season, so there was nothing to defend in Houston. Two-hundred-fifty points later, Monaco is back in the top 100 and back in a major way at 86th in the rankings.

His 62-spot surge is the fourth biggest move of his entire career. He had previously jumped 98 spots in 2001, 97 spots at the start of the 2004 campaign, and 95 spots late in 2002. In terms of the percent improvement in Monaco’s ranking, Monday’s move was by far the most substantial of his career.

The former world No. 10 did it by surviving a roller-coaster of a showdown against Sock on Sunday. Sock took the opening set before various physical problems derailed his title defense. The fourth-seeded American suddenly righted the ship by storming back from a 4-1 deficit in the third set to seize a 5-1 advantage, but Monaco won the last four games to win 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 and secure his ninth ATP title–and second in Houston.

“Today was a quick movie of my life,” said Monaco, who was competing in just his fifth tournament since last August after being sidelined by wrist surgery. “I didn’t expect this so fast. No words to describe this moment.”

Monaco-Sock highlights:

[polldaddy poll=9382142]