Novak Djokovic is now vulnerable at the top of the ATP Rankings due to his withdrawal from the Madrid Open, and Jannik Sinner is well-positioned to take advantage of this in the upcoming weeks.
The ATP Masters 1000 event was skipped by world No. 1 Djokovic, with the tournament organizers merely disclosing that he withdrew for non-medical reasons.
Djokovic has chosen not to travel to the Spanish capital for the second year running, so the good news for his ranking is that he won’t lose any ground the following week. In the live rankings, Djokovic is now at 9,990 points, and he will stay there after the Madrid Open.
And while Djokovic has a comfortable 1,330-point advantage over Sinner, who is in second place, and Alcaraz, who is in third place, is 515 points behind, he might lose a lot of ground at the top following the Madrid Open.
Sinner will trail Djokovic in the rankings by just 330 points if he wins the Madrid Open and is the last player standing.
Due to Sinner’s expected 90-point dip, which essentially puts the advantage at 240 points, Djokovic will have a difficult task defending 180 points in Rome after making it to the quarterfinals of the previous year’s Italian Open. Naturally, Sinner’s victory in Madrid is an essential requirement for it.
Jannik Sinner in 2024
Currently the world no.2 (career-high), the Italian played his last match on the 13th of April when he was overcome by world no.7 Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4 3-6 6-4 in the semifinal in Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters (draw).
This year Jannik has a 25-2 record. Jannik has won 3 titles in 2024 at the Australian Open, Rotterdam and Miami.
The Italian has won 3 titles in 2024 at the Australian Open, Rotterdam and Miami.
Jannik won 14 titles in his career: 6 on hard courts, 1 on clay courts and 7 on indoor courts. (See the list of his titles)