Novak Djokovic v Jannik Sinner v Carlos Alcaraz v Daniil Medvedev: 2024 clay-court points to defend

The clay-court season is up and running with the big guns set to make their 2024 debuts on the surface at next week’s Monte-Carlo Masters.

There will be a lot of points on offer over the next three months, but equally important is the fact that some players will be dropping more points than others due to their successes the previous year.

Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev are currently the top four in the ATP Rankings and the main protagonists. Alexander Zverev is a distant fifth, but he could be part of the conversation come the end of May as he doesn’t have too many points to defend (more below).

Points To Defend

Novak Djokovic – 2,315 points

World No 1 Djokovic will drop the most points over the next few weeks, but the good news for him is that most of that will only come at the French Open.

The 24-time Grand Slam winner will drop 2,000 points at Roland Garros after winning the title last year while the other big points drop will come at the Italian Open after he reached the quarter-final last year.

The good news for Djokovic is he could build a nice lead ahead of the French Open with a couple of title runs at the Masters 1000 events.

Jannik Sinner – 585 points

Australian Open champion Sinner is a man on the hunt as he has the fewest points to defend from the top four with his best performance on clay coming at Monte Carlo last year when he reached the semi-final.

And even better news for the Italian is the fact that he lost in the second round at Roland Garros in 2023 so an extended run will boost his points tally.

MORE: When could Jannik Sinner replace Novak Djokovic as the new world No 1?

Carlos Alcaraz – 2,265

World No 3 Alcaraz is in danger of slipping down the rankings over the next few weeks as he is the defending champion at Madrid and Barcelona and also reached the semi-final at Roland Garros last year.

On the upside, he didn’t play in Monte Carlo last year so there is a chance to get extra points while he lost in the second round in Rome.

Daniil Medvedev – 1,280

Medvedev has made no secret of the fact that he hates clay yet he is always there or thereabouts and he had a decent clay-court season last year, well up until Roland Garros.

He won his maiden Masters 1000 title on clay in Rome so will drop 1,000 points and also reached the quarter-final in Monte Carlo. All went horribly wrong at the French Open as he lost in the first round.

Alexander Zverev – 1,080

Zverev was still nursing his way back from injury during the early part of the 2023 clay season and he only hit top gear at Roland Garros where he reached the semi-final for a third consecutive year.

Thus, any extended run at the ATP Masters events will see him in the picture in terms of a move up the rankings.

The Big Clay-Court Events

Most players will compete in four or five clay-court events over the next few weeks with the red-dirt campaign coming to a conclusion at Roland Garros.

There are three ATP Masters 1000 events, one ATP 500 tournament and a couple of ATP 250 events.

April 7-14
Monte-Carlo Masters

All the big guns have entered the first clay-court ATP Masters 1000 event of the year

April 15-21
Barcelona Open (ATP 500), Munich Open (ATP 250)
Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev are the only two players among the top five set to feature this week with the former set to defend his title in Barcelona and Zverev playing at home in Germany.

April 22-May 5
Madrid Open
The top five are all on the entry list for the second ATP Masters 1000 event on clay, but don’t be too surprised if one or two withdraw.

May 8-19
Italian Open
Traditionally the final clay-court warm-up event for the big guns and the top five are all set to enter.

May 26-June 9
The second Grand Slam of the year, the French Open, could see a change in the world No 1 spot in the ATP Rankings change hands, but a lot can still happen before Roland Garros.