ATP Rankings (18/03/24): Djokovic slayer makes top 100 debut and Stan is not the man this week
With plenty of points on offer over the past fortnight, Indian Wells has had a dramatic impact in the latest update of the ATP rankings.
Carlos Alcaraz may have won the Indian Wells title last night, but as he was defending champion has not moved anywhere in the rankings this week.
After ending Jannik Sinner’s 19-match winning streak, Alcaraz has held off the pressure put on him by his Italian rival for the time being.
DESERT DOUBLE ????????@carlosalcaraz defends his Indian Wells crown!#IndianWells | #TennisParadise pic.twitter.com/4ictieoqGc
— BNP Paribas Open (@BNPPARIBASOPEN) March 17, 2024
Big Movers
The biggest upward mover of the week inside the top 100 is that of Luca Nardi, who produced a shock victory over world No.1 Novak Djokovic at Indian Wells last week.
Nardi actually lost his final qualifying match against David Goffin, but gained access to the main draw as a lucky loser.
As a result of reaching the fourth round at Indian Wells, Nardi has risen a massive 27 places to a new career-high of No.96.
Former Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini made his return to the match court last week, but not at Indian Wells and instead at the ATP Challenger event in Phoenix.
It was the former world No.6’s first tournament since the US Open after struggling with a foot injury, and he managed to battle all the way to the final.
First final since 2022 ????
Matteo Berrettini is through to the Phoenix final besting Vukic 7-6(2), 7-6(2)!#ATPChallenger pic.twitter.com/2b8Ah9FiQ0
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) March 17, 2024
The Italian could not beat Nuno Borges in that final, but has still climbed 12 places to No.142 ahead of his return to the main tour at the Miami Open this week.
Other significant upward movers this week include Jiri Lehecka (+5 to No.27), Arthur Fils (+6 to No.37), Gael Monfils (+7 to No.47), Jakub Mensik (+11 to No.70), Alex Michelsen (+7 to No.73) and Juan Pablo Varillas (+15 to No.95).
It was not such a good week for three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka, who could not defend his Indian Wells points from last year after being knocked out in the first round.
The 38-year-old has since dropped 13 spots to world No.83, and he will not be able to bridge this gap yet after withdrawing from the Miami Open.
Other big fallers this week are Felix Auger-Aliassime (-5 to No.36), Jack Draper (-5 to No.42), Alexander Shevchenko (-7 to No.58), Thiago Seyboth Wild (-11 to No.76), Marton Fucsovics (-12 to No.86) and Cristian Garin (-17 to No.104)
ATP Rankings Top 20 (18/03/24)
Here is the most recent update of the current top 20 ranked ATP players, with Tommy Paul the biggest mover after reaching the semi-final of Indian Wells for the first time:
| Ranking | Player | Tournaments Played | Points |
| 1 | Novak Djokovic | 18 | 9,725 |
| 2 | Carlos Alcaraz | 18 | 8,805 |
| 3 | Jannik Sinner | 20 | 8,310 |
| 4 | Daniil Medvedev | 19 | 7,765 |
| 5 | Alexander Zverev | 26 | 5,060 |
| 6 | Andrey Rublev | 24 | 4,970 |
| 7 | Holger Rune | 23 | 3,875 |
| 8 | Casper Ruud | 24 | 3,560 |
| 9 | Hubert Hurkacz | 24 | 3,370 |
| 10 | Alex de Minaur | 25 | 3,300 |
| 11 | Stefanos Tsitsipas | 25 | 3,255 |
| 12 | Grigor Dimitrov | 24 | 2,935 |
| 13 | Taylor Fritz | 25 | 2,935 |
| 14 | Tommy Paul | 27 | 2,430 |
| 15 | Ugo Humbert | 29 | 2,420 |
| 16 | Karen Khachanov | 23 | 2,265 |
| 17 | Ben Shelton | 27 | 2,220 |
| 18 | Alexander Bublik | 29 | 2,002 |
| 19 | Sebastian Baez | 30 | 1,990 |
| 20 | Adrian Mannarino | 29 | 1,955 |
For a full list of the rankings, visit the official ATP website
Race to the ATP Finals in Turin (18/03/24)
The ATP Finals are a highly anticipated event that take place at the end of each year, featuring the top eight singles players and doubles teams from the tennis season.
After winning his first title since Wimbledon, Alcaraz has jumped from No.19 to No.3 in the race to Turin:
1. Jannik Sinner – 2900 points
2. Daniil Medvedev – 2150 points
3. Carlos Alcaraz – 1500 points
4. Alexander Zverev – 1435 points
5. Alex de Minaur – 1395 points
6. Andrey Rublev – 1050 points
7. Sebastian Baez – 1050 points
8. Ugo Humbert – 975 points
9. Tommy Paul – 965 points
10. Casper Ruud – 925 points
Next week
There is no rest after Indian Wells, with players heading to Florida for the second half of the sunshine double.
Carlos Alcaraz will be the top seed at the Miami Open, after Novak Djokovic withdrew, as he bids to become only the eighth man in history to complete the sunshine double in the same year.
However, he will face stiff competition from last year’s champion Daniil Medvedev and two-time finalist Jannik Sinner.
ONE MORE DAY. pic.twitter.com/Ic801cgWDl
— Miami Open (@MiamiOpen) March 16, 2024
READ MORE – Tennis on TV Next Week: How to watch the Miami Open!
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, with some slight alterations made for the 2024 season:
| Tournament category | W | F | SF | QF | R16 | R32 | R64 | R128 | Q |
| ATP Tour | |||||||||
| Grand Slam | 2000 | 1300 | 800 | 400 | 200 | 100 | 50 | 10 | 30 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATP Finals | +900 (1500 max) | +400 (1000 max) | 200 for each round robin match win (600 max) | ||||||
| ATP Masters 1000 | 1000 | 650 | 400 | 200 | 100 | 50 | 10 (30) | (10) | 30 (20) |
| ATP 500 | 500 | 330 | 200 | 100 | 50 | (25) | 25 (16) | ||
| ATP 250 | 250 | 165 | 100 | 50 | 25 | (13) | 13 (8) | ||
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.
READ NEXT – Carlos Alcaraz overcomes ‘a lot of doubt’ to retain Indian Wells title
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