ATP Rankings: Novak Djokovic to spend birthday at No 1, Zverev at highest since 2022, Chileans on the march
Novak Djokovic has started his 426th week at No 1 as he once again proved the naysayers wrong, but Alexander Zverev, Nicolas Jarry and Alejandro Tabilo were the big winners in the ATP Rankings.
Many had predicted that Djokovic would lose top spot after the Italian Open as the cards were stacked against him with Jannik Sinner poised to strike, but the Serbian remained at No 1 when all was said and done.
Despite Djokovic suffering a shock third-round exit against Tabilo, he emerged from the tournament at the top as Sinner didn’t play in Rome due to injury.
And the 24-time Grand Slam winner, who will turn 37 on May 22, will remain there for at least another couple of weeks as he has a 1,090-point lead over Sinner ahead of Roland Garros.
Although that lead can grow as the tennis great is playing at the ATP 250 event in Geneva this week, it is all set to change after the French Open as defending champion Djokovic will need to reach at least the final to hold off Sinner, who only has 45 points to defend.
READ MORE: 2024 French Open: Will Rafael Nadal and Jannik Sinner play? Dates, draw, top seeds, prize money
Carlos Alcaraz also had an opportunity to move closer to the top two in Rome, but he also missed the event due to injury and the two-time Grand Slam winner finds himself 1,470 points adrift of Sinner.
The Spaniard is followed by Zverev, who moved up to No 4 after winning his second title at Foro Italico with Daniil Medvedev bumped down one spot. Zverev now sits at his highest position since August 2022 when he was at No 2.
The only other change in the top 10 sees Hubert Hurkacz climb up one spot to No 8 with Stefanos Tsitsipas dropping a place.
Jarry was the biggest mover in the top 20 as he jumped eight places to a career-high No 16 after finishing runner-up to Zverev in Rome. The 28-year-old became only the third Chilean after Marcelo Rios and Fernando Gonzalez to reach an ATP Masters 1000 final.
His compatriot Tabilo climbed seven places to a new best of No 25 after he reached the semi-final.
There are also new career highs for Arthur Fils (30), Jack Draper (35), Zhizhen Zhang (42) and Luciano Darderi (47) in the top 50.
Thiago Monteiro was also a surprise package in Rome as he came through qualifying to reach the fourth round and the Brazilian’s reward is a 22-place jump to No 84.
ATP Rankings Top 20
1. Novak Djokovic Serbia – 9,860 points
2. Jannik Sinner Italy – 8,770
3. Carlos Alcaraz Spain – 7,300
4. Alexander Zverev Germany – 6,345
5. Daniil Medvedev – 6,295
6. Andrey Rublev – 4,700
7. Casper Ruud Norway – 4,185
8. Hubert Hurkacz Poland – 3,885
9. Stefanos Tsitsipas Greece – 3,700
10. Grigor Dimitrov Bulgaria – 3,615
11. Alex de Minaur Australia – 3,490
12. Taylor Fritz United States – 3,025
13. Holger Rune Denmark – 2,700
14. Tommy Paul United States – 2,655
15. Ben Shelton United States – 2,500
16. Nicolas Jarry Chile – 2,295
17. Ugo Humbert France – 2,285
18. Karen Khachanov – 2,090
19. Alexander Bublik Kazakhstan – 2,020
20. Sebastian Baez, Argentina – 1,985
