John-Patrick Smith has leaped 22 places to reach the 134th singles rank in the latest Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world rankings. The 26-year-old Queenslander’s semifinal finish at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships guaranteed a boost in his ranking, his career-high singles rank.

Smith came through the early rounds scoring victories over fellow compatriot Bernard Tomic 6-3 7-5, Jared Donaldson 6-3 6-1 and Tatsuma Ito 6-3 6-7 6-3 to book a spot in the final four where he battled ensuing winner Rajeev Ram, who beat him in straight sets 6-4 7-6 to win a second title in Newport. Ram, who entered the tournament ranked 161st scrambled 75 places up in the singles world rankings with his Newport win against second seed Ivo Karlovic in the finale 7-6 5-7 7-6. Smith was awarded 90 points after reaching his maiden ATP semifinals.

Smith has competed in 11 ATP Challenger events this season with a 16-10 win-loss record. He reached the quarterfinals of The RBC Tennis Championships of Dallas, Orange Open Guadeloupe, Zurich Jalisco Open Presentado Por Aeromexico Y Lacoste, and Aegon Surbiton Trophy. Smith won his second challenger title at the Challenger Banque Nationale De Drummondville. His first ATP challenger title came in the hard courts of the 2012 Nielsen Pro Tennis Championships in Winnetka.

The Queenslander qualified for the main draw of the 2015 Wimbledon Championships. However, he was ousted in the first round after losing to Kenny De Schepper.

Smith becomes Australia’s eighth-ranked player on ATP tour. Other Australians who moved up the world rankings include Nick Kyrgios (40), Sam Groth (64), John Millman (97), Matthew Ebden (131), Jason Kubler (169), Jason Thompson (238), Alex Bolt (258), and Omar Jasika (283). Australia’s top-ranked player Tomic dropped four notches down to the 29th place. Thanasi Kokkinakis also plunged three places down to No. 72. James Duckworth was a non-mover at No. 84. The biggest mover was Lleyton Hewitt, who climbed 53 places to 226 after his performance against Kazakhstan at Davis Cup.

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