Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic and four more big names facing French Open rankings peril
A handful of players will head into the French Open with plenty of pressure on their shoulders as they look to defend ranking points from 2025.
With the points on offer in the four Grand Slams always go much more than regular tour events, a deep run is always a huge boost to a player’s ranking.
The kickback always comes a year later, when those ranking points drop off their record and they need to try and add them back on.
Here are six players who may be on course to slide down the rankings when they are updated the Monday after Roland Garros reaches a conclusion.
Carlos Alcaraz
Points dropping: 2,000
The defending French Open champion will see the full 2,000 ranking points fall off his ATP Ranking as he has already confirmed his wrist injury will rule him out of Roland Garros.
If Alcaraz then misses the defence of his Queen’s Club title and Wimbledon, which appears to be a distinct possibility, the Spaniard will be in danger of losing his world No 2 rankings, but his fans will be hoping that the worst-case scenario can be avoided.
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Novak Djokovic
Points dropping: 1,050
Ranking points may not be crucial to Djokovic at this belated stage of his career, but his semi-final appearance at Roland Garros last year will add some pressure for the Serbian when he gets back in Paris.
He will want to maintain his top four seeding at Grand Slams to avoid early meetings with Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz and that will be under threat unless he gets to the last four again at the French Open.
He has lost his only clay court match ahead of the second major of Roland Garros and admits his preparations have ‘not been ideal’, so an early exit in the French capital would be a blow to Djokovic.
Djokovic also had 250 ranking points dropping off his record ahead of the French Open after his win at the ATP 250 tournament in Geneva last year.
Lorenzo Musetti
Points dropping: 800
Musetti’s misery in 2026 started when he was forced to retire at the Australian Open when he was close to beating Novak Djokovic.
Now his misery has been compounded by more fitness issues after he confirmed he had pulled out of Roland Garros and will not be able to defend the 800 ranking points he picked up from his run to the semi-finals last year
He will now drop out of the top 10 of the ATP Rankings.
Alexander Bublik
Points dropping: 400
A run to the quarter-finals at Roland Garros last year highlighted the impressive progress Bublik was making, but he has struggled to maintain that forward momentum in recent months.
Injury and dips in form have affected his ambitions and he might struggle to get on court at Roland Garros and if he gets there, matching his last eight run from 2025 looks like a long shot.
Tommy Paul
Points dropping: 400
Carlos Alcaraz halted Paul’s run at Roland Garros in last year’s quarter-finals and the American will now feel the heat as he looks to defend the points from that run.
He will be in danger of dropping out of the top 20 of the ATP Rankings if he suffers an early exit in Paris.
Frances Tiafoe
Points dropping: 450
Tiafoe served up a fine run to the quarter-finals at Roland Garros last year, but his form and confidence have taken a hit since then.
This charismatic performer has been struggling with an injury that has ruled him out of clay court warm-up events, so he will be vulnerable in the early rounds if he is fit enough to play in Paris.
Tiafoe also has an additional 50 points dropping off his record in the next week, after he played in the ATP 500 tournament at Hamburg last year.
