ATP Rankings (11/9/23): Great news for Djokovic whilst Berrettini pain continues
Novak Djokovic returned to world number one to cap off a brilliant US Open as part of a usual post-Slam shake-up of the ATP rankings.
The Serbian went into the tournament knowing he needed to win just one match to regain top spot in the rankings, although he ended up winning the tournament to claim a 24th major.
Carlos Alcaraz suffered a significant points drop by failing to defend his title, meaning Djokovic, who has reached the final of all four Grand Slam this year, has a commanding 3,000 point lead.
Daniil Medvedev, who lost in the final, also saw a large points gain, and those three players have certainly cemented themselves as the top three in the ATP following the US Open.
There was also a return to the top ten for Alexander Zverev, which will be a welcome boost for him as he continues to rebuild his ranking following injury.
Big Movers
There is little doubt who the big mover was this week. Grand Slams always produce dramatic shifts in the rankings, mainly due to the number of points on offer and how difficult it is to first win them and then defend them.
Ben Shelton has had a particularly impressive breakthrough year in Slams, and he topped that off with a run to the semi-finals in New York that gained him 28 places in the ATP rankings.
The 20-year-old jumped from 47 to 19 to break into the world top 20 for the first time.
There were also large gains for Thiago Seyboth Wild (+30 places to number 76), Borna Gojo (+28 places to number 77) and Rinky Hijikata (+28 places to number 82).
However, Matteo Berrettini’s rough year continued as he dropped 30 places to number 66, and his ankle injury will mean his ATP rankings stock will continue to fall.
ATP Rankings Top 20 (11/9/2023)
| Player | Tournament Played | Points | |
| 1 | Novak Djokovic | 19 | 11,795 |
| 2 | Carlos Alcaraz | 17 | 8,535 |
| 3 | Daniil Medvedev | 22 | 7,280 |
| 4 | Holger Rune | 22 | 4,710 |
| 5 | Stefanos Tsitsipas | 23 | 4,615 |
| 6 | Andrey Rublev | 25 | 4,515 |
| 7 | Jannik Sinner | 22 | 4,465 |
| 8 | Taylor Fritz | 26 | 3,955 |
| 9 | Casper Ruud | 24 | 3,560 |
| 10 | Alexander Zverev | 21 | 3,030 |
| 11 | Frances Tiafoe | 22 | 2,690 |
| 12 | Alex De Minaur | 24 | 2,685 |
| 13 | Tommy Paul | 25 | 2,660 |
| 14 | Felix Auger-Aliassime | 22 | 2,340 |
| 15 | Karen Khachanov | 19 | 2,135 |
| 16 | Hubert Hurkacz | 24 | 2,035 |
| 17 | Cameron Norrie | 23 | 1,985 |
| 18 | Lorenzo Musetti | 27 | 1,925 |
| 19 | Ben Shelton | 28 | 1,735 |
| 20 | Grigor Dimitrov | 22 | 1,735 |
For a full list of rankings, visit the official ATP website
Next Week
The ATP rankings will take a breather for the most part next week as many players turn their attention to the Davis Cup. That means many of the top stars, including world number one Novak Djokovic, will be playing for their country rather than themselves.
After that the tour heads back to China, and that means opportunity for players. The Covid pandemic saw events essentially suspended in China since 2019, and that means that there are no points to defend for any players. There are, though, plenty of points to be won.
Alexander Zverev, Lorenzo Musetti and Grigor Dimitrov will be among those hoping to make rankings gains when they play the ATP 250 in Chengdu. Meanwhile, Andy Murray, Cameron Norrie and Karen Khachanov are due to play the ATP 250 in Zhuhai.
ATP Rankings rules
ATP rankings track and rank all the players on tour over a 52-week period. Points are awarded for performance, with the biggest tournaments giving out the most points over the course of the year.
Those rankings are then used to determine a number of things, such as seedings at tournaments and deciding who qualifies for the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin.
ATP rankings points awarded/tournament
The following points are awarded for the different tiers of tournaments on the ATP Tour.
| W | F | SF | QF | R16 | R32 | R64/R128 | |
| Grand Slams | 2000 | 1200 | 720 | 360 | 180 | 90 | 45/10 |
| ATP Finals* | 1500 | ||||||
| ATP 1000 – 96D | 1000 | 600 | 360 | 180 | 90 | 45 | 25/10 |
| ATP 1000 – 48/56D | 1000 | 600 | 360 | 180 | 90 | 45 | 25 |
| ATP 500 – 48D | 500 | 300 | 180 | 90 | 45 | 20 | |
| ATP 500 – 32D | 500 | 300 | 180 | 90 | 45 | ||
| ATP 250 – 48D | 250 | 150 | 90 | 45 | 20 | 10 | |
| ATP 250 – 32D | 250 | 150 | 90 | 45 | 20 |
* Note – the 1500 points listed on offer for the ATP Finals is for an undefeated champion. During the event, 200 points are awarded for every win in the round robin phase, 400 for a semi-final win and 500 for winning the final.
Admissible tournaments
To prevent players from manipulating the rankings by playing a large amount of smaller tournaments, only 19 tournaments are admissible over the course of the year to make up a ranking.
That number does not include the ATP Finals, with that treated as an extra earned opportunity to win rankings points. However, the bigger and most prestigious tournaments are considered ‘mandatory’ entries. For example, if a player lost in round one of a Grand Slam, they would not be permitted to omit it from their ranking in favour of an ATP 250 which earned them more points.
Therefore, players who compete at all the mandatory events in a season will have the following breakdown of admissible rankings points:
- 4 Grand Slams
- 8 Masters 1000
- 7 ‘Best Other’ performances
The rankings always cover the previous 52-week period, so any points won further back than that are deducted from a player’s total. That player will, though, have the chance to ‘defend’ their points by repeating or improving upon their previous performance.
An example would be a player who was a defeated finalist at the US Open in 2023 will have 1200 points deducted from their ranking following the 2024 final. Those points would then be replaced by those won at the 2024 tournament.
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