Djokovic Falls Again, Sinner Extends No. 1 Lead, Fritz Career-High In ATP Rankings

Djokovic Falls Again, Sinner Extends No. 1 Lead, Fritz Career-High In ATP Rankings

by Jordan Reynolds

Jannik Sinner's formidable lead at No. 1 increased further after his ATP Finals success, but the news was not as positive for Novak Djokovic.

This week's ATP rankings are the year-end standings because the Davis Cup Finals, which occur this week, do not award ranking points to the men who will compete in Rafael Nadal's farewell tournament.

The 2024 ATP Finals saw superb tennis throughout the event in Turin. However, Djokovic's not competing at the season-ending tournament still felt strange after all his accomplishments.

Djokovic was also set to defend his title at the ATP Finals. The Serbian won an unprecedented seventh title last year by beating Casper Ruud, overtaking Roger Federer's total of six with that triumph.

However, Djokovic withdrew from the 2024 ATP Finals, citing an injury as the reason. Although he had not officially qualified for the tournament, the 37-year-old was in a very strong position to make it to Turin if he wanted to compete.

The move also ended Djokovic's season and guaranteed that he would end 2024 with a record-low one title for the year. But that sole title was the Olympic gold medal he had craved for many years.

Djokovic slipped from No. 4 to No. 6 in last week's rankings after dropping the points he earned for winning the 2023 ATP Finals. His decision not to compete at the prestigious event has had further consequences this week.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion fell another place to No. 7 in the rankings. Casper Ruud, who reached the semifinal of this year's ATP Finals, overtook the tennis legend and sits at No. 6.

Jannik Sinner sealed the year-end No. 1 ranking weeks ago. He became the fastest to achieve that significant feat since Djokovic's dominant 2015 season. But playing well in front of home fans at the ATP Finals in Turin gave him a chance to extend his lead at the top.

Sinner was the runner-up to Djokovic at last year's iteration of the tournament, but he took the next step by beating Taylor Fritz in the final in straight sets. The Italian also defeated Fritz in the US Open final a few months ago.

The 1500 points Sinner earned for winning the ATP Finals puts his total at 11,830. That is a massive lead of nearly 4,000 points to Alexander Zverev at No. 2 with 7,915. Carlos Alcaraz is No. 3 on 7.010 points.

Fritz's run to his first final at the season-ending event moved him to a career-high of No. 4. Daniil Medvedev, who admitted to struggling with his desire to play tennis at the ATP Finals, dropped to No. 5.

Andrey Rublev, Alex de Minaur, and Grigor Dimitrov complete the year-end Top 10. Rublev and de Minaur failed to win a match at this year's ATP Finals, while Dimitrov narrowly missed out on qualification.

Other notable parts of the year-end ATP rankings are; Jack Draper finishing at a career-high of No. 15, Ben Shelton narrowly missing out on the Top 20 at No. 21, and Stefanos Tsitsipas ending outside the Top 10 at No. 11.

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