You might think Carlos Alcaraz’s stirring five-set win against top-ranked Jannik Sinner in the French Open final on June 8 could serve as a springboard for Alcaraz to make a run at the ATP No. 1 ranking.
You’d be wrong.
Alcaraz, the world No. 2, actually lost ground to Sinner in the PIF ATP Rankings at the French Open, despite lifting the Coupe des Mousquetaires for the second year in a row. It’s a quirk of tennis’s cyclical ranking system, where players must "defend" points earned at the same event the previous year.
Carlos Alcaraz's huge French Open victory did not help him in the ATP rankings
As defending champion, Alcaraz could only match the ranking points he earned at Roland Garros in 2024. Meanwhile, Sinner increased his ranking points total by improving from a semifinal finish in 2024 to runner-up in 2025.
A similar script could unfold at Wimbledon. Alcaraz is the defending champion and has no path to increase his ranking points. Sinner could increase his advantage over Alcaraz in the world rankings even more just by reaching the semifinals at the All-England Club.
Sinner started his 53rd consecutive week at No. 1 on June 9. That’s already the 13th-most weeks at No. 1 of all time.
Jack Draper (No. 4), Lorenzo Musetti (No. 6), and Tommy Paul (No. 8) all achieved career-high rankings at the end of the clay-court season. Draper reached the final of the ATP 1000 event in Madrid, giving him ATP 1000 finals appearances on two surfaces this year.
Musetti reached at least the semifinals of every big clay-court event this spring (Monte Carlo, Madrid, Rome, and French Open). Paul got to the semifinals at the ATP 1000 event in Rome and reached the quarterfinals of the French Open for the first time.
Alexander Bublik, who would have been featured in the “Who moved down” section of this article in March, is back on the rise. Bublik, who was No. 17 in April 2024 and fell to No. 82 as recently as March 3, is back to No. 43 after a quarterfinal finish at the French Open.
Who moved down?
Stefanos Tsitsipas tumbled from No. 8 at the start of the clay court season to No. 26 at the end of it after back-to-back-to-back early exits in Madrid, Rome, and Paris.
Despite winning the ATP Masters 1000 event in Madrid, Casper Ruud slipped from No. 6 at the start of the clay-court season to No. 16. His second-round exit at the French Open, one year after earning semifinal points at Roland Garros, resulted in an eight-spot rankings slide.
Who’s about to rise?
Big-serving youngsters Ben Shelton and Jakub Mensik should thrive on the grass and will make big moves up the rankings if they do. Shelton, currently No. 12, would crack the top 10 for the first time with good results on the lawns. Mensik, the current No. 17, also could jump into the top 10 by reaching a final or better.
Who could fall?
Current No. 11 Daniil Medvedev hasn’t found his top form for most of 2025 and is defending semifinal points at Wimbledon. If he loses early, he likely will fall out of the top 15.
And, while one should never, ever count out Novak Djokovic, the math shows he could drop out of the top 10 with an early slip-up at the All-England Club.
1 year ago this happened
This week in 2024, Jannik Sinner replaced Novak Djokovic atop the rankings to become the 29th player to hold the No. 1 spot. He’s been there ever since. Djokovic was the oldest player to hold the No. 1 ranking (37 years, 18 days) and established a record with 428 total weeks in the top spot.