Carlos Alcaraz’s ranking points dropped and prize money earned after US Open loss to Ben Shelton
Carlos Alcaraz fought bravely, but his US Open title defence is over after he lost a marathon quarter-final clash against Ben Shelton and his exit will result in a big hit in the ATP Rankings in terms of points.
The seven-time Grand Slam winner was looking for a fairytale return to tennis following his lengthy absence from tennis due to a wrist injury, but it wasn’t to be as he lost in five sets against the American.
Having spent the past four months on the sidelines, the US Open was Alcaraz’s first tournament back and he impressed during his first four matches at Flushing Meadows as he dropped only one set.
But he met his match in the late-night encounter on Arthur Ashe Stadium as the big-serving Shelton held his nerve to secure a 6-7 (5-7), 6-1, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (10-7) victory as the pair made history with the latest finish in US Open history.
The match finished at 3:33am and while Shelton – who claimed his first-ever win over the Spaniard – goes on to face Frances Tiafoe for a place in the 2026 US Open final, Alcaraz’s campaign is over.
ATP Ranking Points Dropped
Alcaraz won the 2025 US Open with a four-set win over Jannik Sinner with the result earning him the maximum of 2,000 ranking points.
But with the ATP using a cumulative, rolling 52-week system to determine the rankings, those points were removed in the Live ATP Rankings at the start of the 2026 edition.
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The Spaniard was on 7,160 points in the official rankings ahead of the tournament and dropped to 5,160 before picking up points again for every round win. A run to the quarter-final, though, is only worth 400 points, which means Alcaraz is -1,600, putting him on 5,560 in the Live Rankings.
There is some good news for the two-time US Open champion as he won’t drop down the rankings after the US Open as he is guaranteed to remain at No 3.
Jannik Sinner, who missed the tournament due to injury, will remain at No 1 with 11,500 points while Alexander Zverev is currently on 8,090 in the Live ATP Rankings with the potential to move to 9,690 with a title run.
Ben Shelton has moved up to No 4 with his win, but he can only finish with a maximum of 5,380 points if he wins the tournament.
Prize Money Earned
Despite missing four months’ action, Alcaraz started the tournament with $4,365,354 in prize money earned so far in 2026 with the bulk of that coming from winning the Australian Open.
The Spaniard will move past the $5m mark as he will receive a cheque of $780,000 while his career earnings will edge above $65m.
