ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s Zangar Nurlanuly has climbed in the ITF Juniors world rankings, moving from 12th to 9th, following his performance at the 2026 Australian Open.
Zangar Nurlanuly. Photo credit: KTF.
The 17-year-old made history as the first Kazakhstan’s tennis player to reach the Australian Open junior singles semifinals. Last fall, he also reached the US Open Juniors semifinals, becoming the first player from Kazakhstan to reach the semifinals of a junior Grand Slam tournament twice, the Kazakhstan Tennis Federation’s press service reported on Feb. 3.
Kazakhstan now boasts three players in the top 10 of global tennis rankings across WTA, ATP, and ITF Juniors: newly crowned Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina is third, Alexander Bublik is 10th, and Zangar Nurlanuly is 9th. Meanwhile, 2026 Australian Open doubles finalist Anna Danilina is ranked 11th.
