ATP Rankings: How many points are Sinner, Zverev, Alcaraz, Djokovic dropping in April?
Jannik Sinner will once again not feature during the month of April, but he will maintain his position at No 1 in the ATP Rankings while there could be changes behind him.
Despite not playing since winning the Australian Open final against Alexander Zverev on 26 January, Sinner has remained comfortable at the top of the rankings as his main rivals Alexander Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz have fumbled.
The month of April marks the start of the clay-court season with two ATP Masters 1000 events, two ATP 500 tournaments and three ATP 250 events on the calendar.
The US Men’s Clay-Court Championships, Grand Prix Hassan II and Romanian Open are the first three events on the calendar this week, but the biggest names on the ATP Tour won’t feature.
Tommy Paul at No 13 is the highest-ranked player in action in Houston, Tallon Griekspoor (34) headlines the Morocco ATP 250 event while Sebastian Baez (No 36) is the main draw card in Bucharest.
The action will only heat up at the Monte Carlo Masters in the second week before the Madrid Open brings the curtain down on April.
ATP Top 10 On 31 March
1) Jannik Sinner – 10,330
2) Alexander Zverev – 7,645
3) Carlos Alcaraz – 6,720
4) Taylor Fritz – 5,290
5) Novak Djokovic – 4,510
6) Casper Ruud – 3,855
7) Jack Draper – 3,780
8) Stefanos Tsitsipas – 3,445
9) Andrey Rublev – 3,440
10) Alex de Minaur – 3,335
Sinner, of course, remains suspended so he won’t be able to add to his 10,330 points in the next four weeks, but he will drop 400 points from his semi-final run in Monte Carlo last year.
The Italian didn’t feature in Barcelona, Munich or Madrid last year so he will have 9,730 points by the time he returns to action in May.
Zverev and Alcaraz have failed to make the most of his absence the past two months and, even though they won’t be able to overtake him, they can reduce his lead.
The German is defending 100 points in Monte Carlo and 100 in Madrid while the 50 he earned in Munich last year is one of his “non-countable tournaments” so he will only drop 200 points and will effectively be on 7,495 points.
If he wins both ATP Masters 1000 tournaments then he will be right on Sinner’s heels, but failure to reach the latter stages could give Alcaraz an opportunity to overtake him.
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Alcaraz only played at the Madrid Open last year and will drop 200 points, which puts him on 6,520. He will compete in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Madrid so can earn a maximum of 2,500 points.
Taylor Fritz and Novak Djokovic complete the top five in the current ATP Rankings and they are dropping 575 and 400 points, respectively, for tallies of 4,715 and 4,110.
So could Djokovic return to the top three by the end of April?
The answer is no as he has so far been confirmed for only two events, the Monte Carlo Masters and the Madrid Open, so can mathematically only get to 6,110 if he wins both events while Alcaraz will be on 6,520 even if he doesn’t pick up a racket in April.
As for the rest of the top 10, No 6 Casper Ruud is in danger of slipping out of the top 10 as he will drop 650 points in Monte Carlo, 500 in Barcelona, 100 in Estoril (corresponding event from 2024) and 100 in Madrid that will put him on 2,515 points.
Draper is dropping only 80 points while defending Monte Carlo champion Tsitispas is defending 1,320 points as he also finished runner-up in Barcelona last year.
Andrey Rublev won the Madrid Open last year and those are the only points he is defending in April.
Points Dropping In March Top 10
1) Jannik Sinner – 400
2) Alexander Zverev – 200
3) Carlos Alcaraz – 200
4) Taylor Fritz – 575
5) Novak Djokovic – 400
6) Casper Ruud – 1,350
7) Jack Draper – 80
8) Stefanos Tsitsipas – 1,320
9) Andrey Rublev – 1,000
10) Alex de Minaur – 250
Miami Open champion Jakub Mensik will drop only 50 points from his round of 32 appearance in Madrid in 2024.
