Djokovic Begins New Season In Control Of Olympics Race Ahead Of Alcaraz

| by Nurein Ahmed

With less than six months to go, Novak Djokovic doesn't look like he is relinquishing his spot as the leader of the Olympics Race to Paris.

The Olympics Race will determine the Top 56 players who earn a straight ticket into the Olympics tennis tournament in singles. The showpiece event in Paris will run from July 27th until August 4th at the iconic Stade Roland Garros.

The Olympics Race commenced accruing points on June 12th, 2023, and will continue to do so until June 12th, 2024. Carlos Alcaraz had been in charge of this race for a considerable period, having won at Queen's and Wimbledon at the start of the grass swing.

However, Djokovic took control of the standings following his victory at the Paris Masters last autumn, where he became the first man to win an astonishing 40 Masters titles. The Serb finished the second half of 2023 in a flourish, bagging titles in Cincinnati and a record 24 Grand Slam wins at the US Open.

Nick Kyrgios To Work As Pundit During 2024 Australian Open
Nick Kyrgios To Work As Pundit During 2024 Australian Open

Djokovic has accumulated 6,560 points. Alcaraz, who is in second place, has tallied 4,680 and is ahead of Jannik Sinner, who is in third place.

Daniil Medvedev's participation remains a mystery, with the ITF rule stipulating that Russian and Belarusian players remain ineligible, contrary to the International Olympic Committee's decision to lift the ban.

Medvedev and compatriot Andrey Rublev are ranked in the Top 10. Alex de Minaur sits at a high of eighth in the race, while Ben Shelton is the top-ranked American and occupies the 10th position. Adrian Mannarino broke the world's Top 20 at the age of 35 this week and sits in 11th spot in the race.

Mannarino is the top-ranked Frenchman. One country can only be represented by four of its best-ranked players in the world's Top 56. That means some players representing countries like the USA and France might miss out because of the high number of top-ranked players.

China's Zhizhen Zhang is the only man who has qualified for the tournament, having won a gold medal at the Asian Games last year. The defending gold medalist from Tokyo, Alexander Zverev, is ranked fifth, but Andy Murray, a two-time gold medalist, could miss out.

Another gold medalist who could miss out is Rafael Nadal, who is currently ranked 500th with only 50 points to his name from quarterfinal participation in Brisbane.

Alcaraz Cuts Djokovic's Lead As De Minaur Rises Into Top 10 In Latest ATP Rankings
Alcaraz Cuts Djokovic's Lead As De Minaur Rises Into Top 10 In Latest ATP Rankings

2024 Race to Paris Olympics as of January 8th, 2024:

Rank Player Points
1 Novak Djokovic 6560
2 Carlos Alcaraz 4680
3 Jannik Sinner 4215
4 Daniil Medvedev 3335
5 Alexander Zverev 2835
6 Andrey Rublev 2500
7 Hubert Hurkacz 2440
8 Alex de Minaur 1910
9 Grigor Dimitrov 1700
10 Ben Shelton 1590
11 Adrian Mannarino 1485
12 Stefanos Tsitsipas 1300
13 Tommy Paul 1230
14 Taylor Fritz 1195
15 Holger Rune 1175
16 Ugo Humbert 1125
17 Alexander Bublik 1050
18 Frances Tiafoe 1000
19 Sebastian Korda 955
20 Tallon Griekspoor 940
21 Christopher Eubanks 852
22 Laslo Djere 815
23 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 810
24 Roman Safiullin 797
25 Nicolas Jarry 750
26 Casper Ruud 740
27 Sebastian Baez 720
28 Felix Auger-Aliassime 720
29 Lorenzo Musetti 705
30 Mackenzie McDonald 685
31 Daniel Evans 665
32 Francisco Cerundolo 665
33 Gael Monfils 665
34 Karen Khachanov 620
35 Jiri Lehecka 605
36 Alexei Popyrin 596
37 Aslan Karatsev 595
38 Jordan Thompson 571
39 Jack Draper 571
40 Fabian Marozsan 557
41 Zhizhen Zhang 551
42 Matteo Arnaldi 550
43 Maximilian Marterer 542
44 Sebastian Ofner 520
45 Constant Lestienne 509
46 Rinky Hijikata 502
47 Alex Michelsen 501
48 Stan Wawrinka 500
49 Arthur Fils 497
50 Alexander Shevchenko 490
51 Marcos Giron 490
52 Tomas Machac 478
53 Pavel Kotov 469
54 Hugo Gaston 466
55 Mariano Navone 459
56 JJ Wolf 455
57 Arthur Rinderknech 444
58 Andy Murray 435
59 Pedro Cachin 431
60 Alejandro Tabilo 425
61 Lorenzo Sonego 420
62 Dominic Stricker 417
63 Tomas Martin Etcheverry 415
64 Federico Coria 414
65 Albert Ramos-Vinolas 406
66 Marton Fucsovics 402
67 Dominic Thiem 400
68 Aleksandar Vukic 398
69 Luciano Darderi 397
70 Christopher O'Connell 397
71 Miomir Kecmanovic 390
72 Michael Mmoh 389
73 Vit Kopriva 384
74 Max Purcell 380
75 Flavio Cobolli 378
76 Fabio Fognini 378
77 Yosuke Watanuki 378
78 Jan-Lennard Struff 375
79 Taro Daniel 371
80 Cameron Norrie 370
81 Borna Gojo 368
82 Yoshihito Nishioka 365
83 Luca Nardi 362
84 Daniel Altmaier 361
85 Jaume Munar 360
86 Alexandre Muller 358
87 Liam Broady 358
88 Daniel Elahi Galan 350
89 Aleksandar Kovacevic 348
90 James Duckworth 346
91 Corentin Moutet 342
92 Thiago Seyboth Wild 342
93 Botic van de Zandschulp 340
94 Terence Atmane 338
95 Zachary Svajda 337
96 Yannick Hanfmann 335
97 Pedro Martinez 334
98 Thiago Monteiro 332
99 Benjamin Hassan 331
100 Dusan Lajovic 331

Read the full article

Just in

Look at more articles