The duel between Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner for No. 1 takes a new turn | ATP Tour

PIF ATP Live Rankings Projection

The duel between Djokovic and Sinner for the No. 1 takes a new turn

Djokovic has the option to protect his interests in Geneva

May 23, 2024

Novak Djokovic’s resistance to prevent Jannik Sinner’s rise to world No. 1 after Roland Garros has entered a new dimension this week, after the Serbian accepted an invitation to play at the Gonet Geneva Open.

If Djokovic reaches the final in Switzerland, Sinner would need to win the Roland Garros title to guarantee his promotion to No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings on June 10, the day after the conclusion of the second Grand Slam of the year. When it seemed that Djokovic would not break the usual routine of him playing the week before a Slam, Sinner’s path to No. 1 seemed simpler: he needed to reach the final in Paris.

Should Djokovic reach the Geneva final, this would open the possibility of a decisive Roland Garros final between Djokovic and Sinner, with the winner emerging as world No. 1.

PIF ATP Live Rankings

Other scenarios for No. 1 will also be affected by the result that Djokovic achieves in Geneva, where this Wednesday he won his first match against Yannick Hanfmann to sign victory No. 1,100 of his sporting career.

Djokovic’s 6-3, 6-3 victory over the German allows him to meet in the quarterfinals against the sixth seed Tallon Griekspoor or Denis Shapovalov, after their match was suspended on Wednesday night due to the rain. If the Serbian wins this Thursday and advances to the semifinals, he may have the opportunity to retain the world No. 1 after Paris by reaching the semifinal of Roland Garros (if Sinner gave up prematurely in Paris).

If Djokovic loses the Geneva final but defeats Sinner in the Roland Garros final, both players would have 10,025 points in the PIF ATP Rankings. In that case, Djokovic would win the tiebreaker by having accumulated more points during the last 52 weeks in Grand Slams, mandatory ATP Masters 1000 and in Nitto ATP Finals.

Should Djokovic lift his first title of 2024 in Geneva and defeat Sinner in a Paris final, he would have more points than the Italian at the close of the clay Grand Slam.

Djokovic will have held the world No. 1 for 428 weeks at the close of Roland Garros. Sinner is attempting to become the first Italian, and 29th player overall, to reach No. 1 in the history of the PIF ATP Rankings.

With Djokovic defending 2,000 points at Roland Garros after winning the title in 2023, Sinner, who fell in the second round last season, will begin the tournament as No. 1 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings. A player must advance to the final of the 52-week PIF ATP Rankings to be officially crowned World No. 1.