17 Latinos ranked among the best 100 tennis players in the world.

The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) announced its final 2007 official rankings after the conclusion of its most prestigious tournament of the year, The Master’s Cup. The final ranking of the years highlights many outstanding athletes, among them 17 Latinos who are ranked among the best 100 players in the world; marking the second time in the organization’s history so many players from Latin America reach top positions.

Leading the pack are Chilean, Fernándo González and Argentine, David Nalbandián who garnered spots among the Top 10 players as #7 and #9 respectively. They are followed by #15 Guillermo Cañas, #20 Juan Ignacio Chela, #23 Juan Mónaco, #42 Agustín Calleri, #44 Juan Martín del Potro, #64 José Acasuso, #66 Carlos Berloq, #72 Sergio Roitman, #75 Martin Vassallo Arguello, #79 Nicolás Masú, #82 Diego Hartfield, #85 Alejandro Falla, #91 Mariano Zabaleta, #97 Juan Pablo Brzezicki, and #99 Paul Capdeville.

“As a Latino I feel very proud to see we are making an impact in tennis as we do in so many other endeavors around the world,” said González. “Everywhere we go and in every court we play, we try to leave a strong imprint of our passion and determination to succeed.”

The Masters’ Cup was the ATP’s last tournament of the year. The players go into hiatus for a month and begin the new year with a full-set of new tournaments to start garnering their ranking points for 2008. After the season kick-off during the Australian Open tournament, the ATP begins its Latin Swing from February 11 – March 2 with prestigious tournaments held in Viña del Mar, Chile, Costa do Sauipe, Brazil, Buenos Aires, Argentina and Acapulco, Mexico.