The ATP rankings after the 2023 Madrid Open: Number 1, top-10 and points
With another title in the bag, the 20-year-old is now within touching distance of the No. 1 ranking in the world. Yet, but what does he need to do to clinch it?
The young Spaniard’s star continues to rise and with good reason. Having successfully defended his Madrid Open title, could we be looking at the future No. 1. Assuming that’s the case, all indications point to the idea that he could be here to stay for quite some time.
Carlos Alcaraz has No. 1 seed in his sights
On Sunday evening, Spanish tennis star and world No. 2, Carlos Alcaraz, successfully defended his Madrid Open title in an entertaining match against Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff, the world No. 65. With the win, Alcaraz moved to 6,770 points, which puts him exactly 405 points behind world No. 1 Novak Dkokovic who sits on 7,135. There was also a nice paycheck which he received as well. At any rate, that’s not a lot of wiggle room for the Serbian and given his recent off-court troubles and the Spaniard’s on-court form, one could be forgiven for thinking we’ll soon have a new top seed.
To be clear, Alcaraz has still got to beat those who stand in front of him, but with the way in which ATP points are allotted and structured, it’s highly likely that he will accumulate the amount necessary to leapfrog Djokovic, even if he doesn’t outrightly win the next tournament that he plays in. If you’re not sure how that works, then no need to worry as we’ve got you covered. Just keep reading.
How do the ATP ranking points work?
The tennis ranking system is based on the points picked up at each tournament, which automatically expire after a year. This means that to maintain points won at any tournament it’s necessary to repeat the achievement from the previous year. This also means that a tennis player can win a tournament but not improve their ranking points if they are repeating what they did the year before. So if a player wins a Grand Slam (2,000 points) and repeats the title the following year, their ranking points do not improve as the 2,000 picked up merely replace the 2,000 lost from the expiry of the previous year’s title.
What is the current ATP top 10 ranking?
As mentioned before, Alcaraz is now a stone’s throw away from away from top-seeded Djokovic, but who else sits in the top 10 and where exactly are they and with how many points? Take a look below for the breakdown of ATP’s current cream of the crop:
| Rank | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Novak Djokovic | 7,135 |
| 2 | Carlos Alcaraz | 6,770 |
| 3 | Daniil Medvedev | 5,240 |
| 4 | Casper Ruud | 5,210 |
| 5 | Stefanos Tsitsipas | 5,195 |
| 6 | Andrey Rublev | 4,280 |
| 7 | Holger Rune | 4,070 |
| 8 | Janik Sinner | 3,615 |
| 9 | Felix Auger-Aliassime | 3,405 |
| 10 | Taylor Fritz | 3,290 |
Alcaraz’s win means he’ll be No. 1 provided he plays in Rome
Novak Djokovic won in Rome last year, meaning he is defending those 1,000 points and cannot improve his overall total, meaning he’s stuck on 6,775 maximum till after Rome. However, Alcaraz got zero points in Rome last year, meaning he’ll be getting points from the very first match. Even losing in the first round would earn him 10 points, meaning that just by playing a single game he’d be guaranteed to move to number one after Rome, on a minimum of 6,780 with Djokovic on a maximum of 6,775.