ATP Rankings: Novak Djokovic at No 1 with huge lead over Carlos Alcaraz; Ben Shelton hits new career-high

ATP Tour
Novak Djokovic celebrations

Novak Djokovic is once again back on his perch in the ATP Rankings as he has replaced Carlos Alcaraz as the world No 1 while Ben Shelton was one of the biggest winners following his run to the US Open semi-final.

It has been common knowledge for a fortnight that Djokovic would return to No 1 after the season-ending Grand Slam at Flushing Meadows and it was simply a case of how big his lead over his closest rival would be after the tournament.

That question has now been answered as the 24-time Grand Slam winner has a gigantic 3,260-point advantage over Alcaraz after he picked up 2,000 points for winning the US Open while the Spaniard dropped 1,280 points after he was knocked out in the semi-final by Daniil Medvedev.

Alcaraz has made it clear that he is determined to regain top spot in the coming months, but he will find it difficult to knock Djokovic off top spot before the end of the year given the Serbian’s recent form.

On top of that, Medvedev is now putting pressure on Alcaraz in second place as he is now 1,255 points adrift after finishing runner-up at the US Open.

The rest of the pack is well adrift with Holger Rune another 2,500-odd points behind in fourth place and Stefanos Tsitsipas completing the top five.

Casper Ruud was one of the biggest losers in the rankings after the US Open as the 2022 runner-up dropped four places to No 9 after his second-round loss.

Meanwhile, Alexander Zverev is back in the top 10 following his run to the quarter-final. The German briefly dropped out of the top 20 a few months ago as he struggled to regain form following his lengthy injury-enforced absence last year, but he appears to be back to his best.

There is one new entry to the top 20 as American youngster Shelton enters at No 19 following his remarkable run at Flushing Meadows.

The 20-year-old started the tournament at No 47, but picked up 720 points to surge up 28 places. Not bad from a player who sat at No 173 at the same time last year and at No 573 at the beginning of 2022.

As for British players, Cameron Norrie dropped one place to No 17 after his third-round exit in New York with Dan Evans at No 28, Andy Murray No 41.

Jack Draper climbed 17 places to No 106 after he returned from injury to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time.

ATP Rankings Top 20

1. Novak Djokovic Serbia 11,795 points
2. Carlos Alcaraz Spain 8,535
3. Daniil Medvedev – 7,280
4. Holger Rune Denmark 4,710
5. Stefanos Tsitsipas Greece 4,615
6. Andrey Rublev – 4,515
7. Jannik Sinner Italy 4,465
8. Taylor Fritz United States 3,955
9. Casper Ruud Norway 3,560
10. Alexander Zverev Germany 3,030
11. Frances Tiafoe United States 2,690
12. Alex De Minaur Australia 2,685
13. Tommy Paul United States 2,660
14. Felix Auger-Aliassime Canada 2,340
15. Karen Khachanov 2,135
16. Hubert Hurkacz Poland 2,035
17. Cameron Norrie Great Britain 1,985
18. Lorenzo Musetti Italy 1,925
19. Ben Shelton United States 1,735
20. Grigor Dimitrov Bulgaria 1,735

READ MORE: Novak Djokovic admits he did not think ‘dream year’ would go this way

Ben Shelton Carlos Alcaraz Novak Djokovic

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