Jannik Sinner‘s quest to keep his World No. 1 ranking just got easier.
The North American hard-court season is underway, with many ATP stars already in Montreal for the Canadian Open, which starts on Tuesday, August 6th, due to the Olympics.
However, some top players like Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz will miss the tournament because they are playing in the Olympic Games .
Both Djokovic and Alcaraz aim to win their first gold medal at the Olympics. Djokovic, at 37, is now the oldest finalist ever in Olympic singles history. Alcaraz, only 21, is the youngest since 1988.
| Name | Age | Points | Stats 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🇮🇹 Jannik Sinner | 23 | 15,405 | 33 - 3 |
Olympic Impact:
Djokovic has never won a gold or silver medal despite competing in five Olympics. This year will be different as he guarantees Serbia its best-ever finish. Meanwhile, Alcaraz hopes to follow Rafael Nadal‘s footsteps by winning gold after beating Djokovic at Wimbledon.
Fans might think this news gives Sinner an easy path to stay on top of the rankings.
Both players will rest after a tough week of clay-court tennis and skipped warm-up events post-Wimbledon. They had chances to claim No. 1 ranking at Canadian Open but withdrew for Olympics instead. Sinner missed Olympics due to illness but can defend his title in Canada.
Sinner drops 1000 points when Canadian Open starts; Djokovic didn’t play last year so could’ve gained those points this time around. Alcaraz loses only 180 points from last year’s quarterfinals run while Sinner’s tally stands at 8580 points (with automatic defense of first-round bye).
Djokovic and Alcaraz won’t get ranking points from Olympics but would’ve started summer hard-court swing with scores of 8460 and 7950 respectively.
Djokovic had better odds than Alcaraz for reclaiming No.1 spot as he’d trail Sinner by just 120 points if he played. Now without them competing, Sinner doesn’t need title defense to remain No.1; he’ll extend his reign beyond eight weeks as he turns 23 soon!
The draw for this year’s Canadian Open shows Sinner starting in second round against Pedro Martinez or qualifier; projected semifinal clash with Daniil Medvedev awaits him.
What do you think about these developments?
