The ranking points Alcaraz, Djokovic, Sinner, Zverev & co will defend at French Open
The French Open men’s singles draw will get underway on Sunday, with all eyes on how the ATP Tour’s biggest stars will fare at Roland Garros.
All four Grand Slam events always have a significant impact on the ATP Rankings and here, we look at what ranking points the game’s leading stars gave to defend in Paris over the next fortnight.
No 1 – Jannik Sinner
A two-time Australian Open champion and the 2024 US Open champion, world No 1 Sinner will look to win his first Grand Slam outside hard courts at Roland Garros this fortnight.
The Italian was a semi-finalist at the tournament in 2024, meaning he will defend 800 of his 10,380 ranking points over the next two weeks.
Sinner is guaranteed to stay as the world No 1 regardless of results in Paris, and would increase his lead should he reach the final.
No 2 – Carlos Alcaraz
The champion in Monte Carlo and Rome heading in, second seed Alcaraz is arguably the favourite to lift the men’s singles title.
Alcaraz was triumphant at Roland Garros twelve months ago, meaning he is defending a staggering 2,000 of his 8,850 points in the French capital.
He could lose his world No 2 ranking with an early exit.
No 3 – Alexander Zverev
Zverev has reached four straight semi-finals at the French Open, and made the final for the first time in 2024 – falling to Alcaraz in a five-set final.
The German will therefore defend 1,300 of his 7,285 ranking points in Paris, with a battle for the world No 2 ranking between him and Alcaraz once again set to take place.
No 4 – Taylor Fritz
Roland Garros is the only Grand Slam where US star Fritz is yet to reach the quarter-final, though he did progress to the fourth round for the first time in 2024.
The world No 4 defends 200 of his ATP Rankings points in Paris, with a current points haul of 4,625 to his name.
No 5 – Jack Draper
One man who could pounce from a rankings perspective at the tournament is world No 5 Draper, who has never previously won a main-draw match at the second Grand Slam of the year.
As a result, the Brit just has 10 points to defend after his opening-round exit twelve months ago – a total he will automatically defend just by entering the tournament in 2025.
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No 6 – Novak Djokovic
Three-time French Open champion Djokovic suffered a hugely disappointing end to his campaign in 2024, forced to withdraw from his quarter-final versus Casper Ruud due to injury.
Djokovic, therefore, has 400 quarter-final points to defend in Paris, and could surge significantly should he progress to the last four or beyond over the next couple of weeks.
No 7 – Casper Ruud
The men’s singles runner-up in both 2022 and 2023, Ruud made a third straight semi-final in Paris after Djokovic’s withdrawal twelve months ago, before falling to Zverev.
The Norwegian has 800 ranking points to defend at Roland Garros, meaning his top-10 ranking would be at risk with an early exit in Paris.
No 8 – Lorenzo Musetti
One of the form players of the clay swing, Musetti sits at a career-high of world No 8 coming into the French Open and is the eighth seed at Roland Garros.
The Italian was beaten by Djokovic in the third round in 2024, and therefore has just 100 points to defend this fortnight.
Who else to watch?
Outside of the top eight seeds, there are three more men defending quarter-final points from 2024; ninth seed Alex de Minaur, 16th seed Grigor Dimitrov, and 20th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The ninth seed in 2024, Tsitsipas has already slipped down the rankings and, with 400 points to defend, could fall out of the top 25 with an early exit.
De Minaur is at risk of a top-10 exit, while Dimitrov would be at risk of a top-20 exit.
Read Next: Alcaraz beats Sinner to defend French Open title as Djokovic outperforms Zverev – our predictions
