Following this year’s first clay court Masters 1000 event in Monte Carlo, there have been some huge changes in our top ten. Big names have come back into play, whilst others have shockingly fallen off the rankings entirely. The 2024 tennis season is really starting to hot up and with the return of Rafael Nadal in Barcelona this week, it’s only getting hotter!
Last week in Monte Carlo saw a strong week for a number of resurgent stars on the ATP tour, whilst there were some more worrying signs for Carlos Alcaraz who seems to be really struggling with injury so far this year. It was a return to form for Novak Djokovic however, who despite falling at the semi-final stage, showed that he is still competitive at the top level after a slow start to the season. Finally, champion Stefanos Tsitsipas showed once again that he is the king of Monte Carlo, and reminded everyone that he will certainly be a factor over the coming months.
With that to come, it’s time to have a look at our latest ATP Power Rankings. Did Alcaraz’s injury see him fall? Was Tsitsipas’ win enough to see him return to the top ten? Let’s take a look.
Death, Taxes, and Sinner at number one. It’s becoming quite the theme in 2024, and it doesn’t look like it will change any time soon. The Italian’s three-set defeat to eventual champion Tsitsipas in the last four ensured that his run of reaching at least the semi-finals of every tournament he’s played this year continued. That level of consistency is unbelievable, and if he can carry this form throughout the clay season, it’s tough to imagine anyone else taking over the top spot.
Everyone can calm down with the Djokovic meltdown now. Yes it hasn’t been a flying start to the year, and yes the loss to Luca Nardi at Indian Wells was worrying, but he really hasn’t played that much tennis yet, and his performance in the principality was promising. The 36-year-old came up short against Casper Ruud in the semi-finals but it was a good enough start to Djokovic’s clay season, that fans can be happy with. He’ll have a week to rest before he heads to Madrid, where he’ll be looking to properly get his season underway.
The Spaniard had to withdraw before the tournament through injury, much to the disappointment of both Alcaraz and his admiring fans. The same will be the case for Barcelona, meaning he won’t have the opportunity to score a hat-trick of titles at the event. He’ll hope to be back and fit for Madrid next week, to give his home fans something to cheer.
Expectations for Medvedev on clay aren’t what they are on hard, so it’s going to be difficult to judge him through this part of the season. A second-round defeat to compatriot Karen Khachanov in Monte Carlo wasn’t the best of starts, but it wasn’t entirely unexpected. He did pick up a title in Rome last year however, so the Russian will be hoping for a week like that sometime soon to maintain his spot in the top four.
There is no change in our top five as the German keeps his place. Zverev couldn’t back up a strong sunshine double with a good week in Monte Carlo as he fell to Tsitsipas in the last 16. Losing to the eventual champion is tough to hold against someone however, and I expect there will be a lot more to come from Zverev in the next few weeks. He heads to Munich this week as the top seed, and you wouldn’t be surprised to see him pick up a first title of the season at his home tournament.
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