ATP Race Update: Carlos Alcaraz takes control with Djokovic and Zverev in pursuit

he ATP Race to Turin was updated after the end of the Australian Open, after one month of competition, with several ATP 500 and 250 tournaments already completed. The seven-time Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz quickly climbed to first place after just his first tournament of the season, dropping Melbourne runner-up Novak Djokovic to second position, although the Serbian still leads the Race by a wide margin.

Unlike the ATP Rankings, the Race measures only the points earned during the calendar year, meaning from the start of the 2026 season. It will be the Race that determines, at the end of the season, the eight players who qualify for the ATP Finals in Turin, in addition to the year-end rankings.

For the moment, the top 10 of the Race does not show too many differences compared to the ATP Rankings. In fact, eight of the ten best-ranked players — which measure the last 52 weeks — are also among the top performers of the current calendar year. While the Australian Open campaign was key for climbing positions, there are some names in the upper zone who reached those spots thanks to strong performances at smaller tournaments.

Alcaraz quickly added 2,000 points to the Race and took first place in terms of points earned in 2026. He comfortably surpasses Djokovic in second place, who has collected 700 points after his strong run to the final of the first Major of the year.

There are no major surprises in the following positions, as Australian Open semifinalists Alexander Zverev (840) and Jannik Sinner (800) occupy third and fourth place respectively. The German holds a slight advantage over the Italian thanks to his participation in the United Cup, where he recorded one win and one loss before the Europeans were eliminated in the round-robin stage of the tournament.

Fifth place belongs to Italian Lorenzo Musetti, who reached the quarterfinals in Melbourne, but also comes off a runner-up finish at the ATP 250 Hong Kong Open during the first week of competition.

The first big surprise appears in sixth place, with young star Jakub Mensik (495) climbing among the elite of the season. The 20-year-old captured the title at the ASB Classic — his second professional title — and then reached the fourth round of the Australian Open.

He was eliminated in Melbourne after withdrawing due to injury before stepping onto the court against Djokovic. Still, the strong number of points earned early in the year gives Mensik some breathing room to remain inside the top 10, despite also being the lowest-ranked player in the elite group — just No. 16 in the ATP Rankings compared to No. 6 in the Race.

Behind him are Australian Open quarterfinalists Alex de Minaur (485) and Ben Shelton (450), with slight differences in favour of the Australian due to his participation in the United Cup at the start of the season.

Ninth and tenth place are shared by two players who carried strong momentum from the end of 2025 and confirmed it with titles at the start of this year: Daniil Medvedev — champion in Brisbane — and Alexander Bublik — champion in Hong Kong. Both were leading the Race just one week ago, but after the first Major of the year they have managed to remain inside the top 10.

The final Australian Open quarterfinalist to appear in the Race is 20-year-old Learner Tien, who reached the quarterfinals in Melbourne and adds that result to a second-round showing at the Brisbane International to secure a respectable 11th place in the ATP Race.

Behind the American are players such as Tomas Machac — champion in Adelaide — Sebastian Baez and Hubert Hurkacz, both of whom posted strong campaigns at the United Cup. Rounding out the top 15 is Tommy Paul, semifinalist in Adelaide and a Round of 16 finisher in Melbourne.