Ranking the players with the most end-of-season ATP points since 2009: Novak Djokovic’s year of domination stands out

• Shahida Jacobs
• November 1, 2023

Novak Djokovic remains on course to finish the 2023 ATP Tour season at No 1 in the ATP Rankings, but he is unlikely to come close to his incredible points tally from the 2015 campaign.

Although this season still has a few more weeks to go and Carlos Alcaraz has a mathematical chance of catching Djokovic, all the signs point to the 24-time Grand Slam winner ending yet another year at the top of the ATP Rankings.

The Serbian currently leads the way with 11,045 points and there are several permutations still at play as he is still competing in the Paris Masters while the ATP Finals are still to come.

However, when all is said and done his maximum points tally for the year is 11,445.

Not a bad effort when you take into account he has played only 11 tournaments so far including the Paris Masters.

But where would that 11,445 points slot in under the current points format was introduced in 2009?

Well, he would be inside the top 10, well below his astonishing total of 16,585 that he achieved in 2015.

In case you forget, the ATP Tour had a different points structure before 2009 as only 1,000 points were awarded to a Grand Slam winner, 750 to the winner of the Tennis Masters Cup (currently known as the ATP Finals), 500 points to an ATP Masters Series (ATP Masters 1000) champion, etc.

Today a Grand Slam winner receives 2,000 points, an undefeated ATP Finals champion earns 1,500 points, an ATP Masters 1000 winner receives 1,000 points, etc.

Players with the most end-of-season ATP points since 2009

14. Carlos Alcaraz – 6,820 points (2022)

Carlos Alcaraz’s breakthrough season saw him finish the year at the top of the ATP Rankings and his tally of 6,820 points was the lowest in history. Well, since 2009.

Alcaraz played 17 tournaments as he won his maiden Grand Slam – the US Open – and also won two ATP Masters 1000 events, two ATP 500 tournaments and one ATP 250 event.

But the 2022 season does have an asterisk as Wimbledon didn’t award any points while Djokovic missed the Australian Open, US Open and four ATP Masters 1000 events as he was unable to travel to North America.

Djokovic finished the year with 4,820 and you can do your own math for a hypothetical points tally for the ifs and buts.

13. Novak Djokovic – 9,045 points (2018)

Djokovic finished the 2018 season with a 53–13 record as he won four titles, including Wimbledon and the US Open.

The Serbian played 17 tournaments and finished 1,565 points ahead of Rafael Nadal, who played only 13 events.

12. Rafael Nadal – 9,985 points (2019)

Rafael Nadal pipped Novak Djokovic to the No 1 spot in 2019 by just 840 points after winning the French Open and the US Open.

The Spaniard, who played 13 tournaments, also won two ATP Masters titles (Rome and Canada), finished runner-up at the Australian Open and reached the semi-final at Wimbledon.

11. Roger Federer – 10,550 points (2009)

Roger Federer’s only entry on the list comes from the first season with the new points-scoring system.

To be fair to Federer, he would have had several more entries if the same system had been used before 2009 and his 2006 campaign, in particular, would have seen him amass an incredible 15,903 points, but the official history books state Federer finished 2006 with 8,370 points.

Back to 2009 and the majority of Federer’s points came from his Roland Garros and Wimbledon titles while he also finished runner-up at the Australian Open and US Open. Federer also won the Madrid Masters and Cincinnati Masters and played in 19 tournaments.

10. Rafael Nadal – 10,645 points (2017)

Rafael Nadal finished as the year-end No 1 for the fourth time in his career and he once again reached three Grand Slam finals, winning the French Open and US Open and finishing runner-up at the Australian Open.

There were also Masters titles in Monte Carlo and Madrid, an ATP 500 trophy in Barcelona and an ATP 250 title in Beijing.

9. Novak Djokovic – 11,360 points (2014)

Four different players won the four Grand Slams in 2014, but Djokovic was by far the most consistent player as he won Wimbledon and the ATP Finals and also finished runner-up at Roland Garros.

Djokovic played 17 tournaments that year and was 1,585 points clear of Federer in second place with the Swiss competing in two more events than the Serbian.

8. Novak Djokvoic – 11,540 points (2021)

The 2021 season was a year of rule for Djokovic as he won the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon, and also finished runner-up at the US Open.

His only Masters title came in Paris and the only reason why he failed to come close to his record-breaking season in terms of points tally (more below) is because he only played in 14 tournaments.

He didn’t play in Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid, Canada or Cincinnati.

6. Rafael Nadal – 12,030 points (2013)

Rafael Nadal finished 770 points ahead of Novak Djokovic in 2013 as he won Roland Garros, the US Open, Indian Wells Masters, Madrid Open, Rome Masters, Canada Masters, Cincinnati Masters, the ATP 500 Acapulco Open, the ATP 500 Barcelona Open and the ATP 250 Sao Paulo Open.

He also finished runner-up at the ATP Finals while Djokovic won the Australian Open, ATP Finals and finished runner-up at Roland Garros and Wimbledon.

6. Novak Djokovic – 12,030 points (2020)

Joint-level with Nadal’s 2013 season is Djokovic in 2020, but this campaign deserves a footnote as Wimbledon, six ATP Masters 1000 events and a host of other tournaments were cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

There was also a rankings freeze midway through the year, but when all was said and done, Djokovic was well clear of Nadal in second place.

The Serbian won the Australian Open and finished runner-up at Roland Garros. He also won the Cincinnati Masters, Rome Masters and the Dubai Tennis Challenge.

5. Andy Murray – 12,410 points (2016)

Andy Murray’s lone entry comes from the only year that he finished as the year-end No 1.

The Scot played in 17 tournaments and won nine of them, although one of those titles didn’t earn him any ranking points as you only get a shiny gold medal for winning the Olympics.

Murray also won Wimbledon, the ATP Finals, Rome Masters, Shanghai Masters, Paris Masters, Queen’s Club, Beijing and Vienna while there were runners-up trophies at the Australian Open and Roland Garros.

4. Rafael Nadal – 12,450 points (2010)

Rafael Nadal was 3,305 points clear of Roger Federer in second place at the end of the 2010 season as he won Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open.

There were also ATP Masters titles in Monte Carlo, Rome and Madrid while he finished runner-up at the ATP Finals.

3. Novak Djokovic – 12,920 points (2012)

The 2012 season yielded titles at the Australian Open, ATP Finals, Miami Open, Canadian Open, Shanghai Masters and the China Open for Novak Djokovic.

Finishing runner-up at Roland Garros and the US Open also boosted the Serbian’s points tally as Roger Federer finished a distant second.

2. Novak Djokovic – 13,630 points (2011)

Novak Djokovic was the first player under the new scoring system to break the 13,000-point mark and when you consider he won the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open it’s easy to see why.

Djokovic also won five ATP Masters 1000 titles and finished the year 4,035 points ahead of Nadal.

1. Novak Djokovic – 16,585 points (2015)

The 2015 season is statistically Novak Djokovic’s best year as he finished the year with a 93.2% winning percentage (82-6).

The tennis great won the Australian Open, Wimbledon, US Open, ATP Finals, Indian Wells Open, Miami Open, Monte Carlo Masters, Rome Masters, Shanghai Masters, Paris Masters and China Open. There was also a runners-up trophy at Roland Garros.

He entered 17 tournaments, reached 15 finals and won 11 titles.