ATP rankings rule change: Who inside the top 10 in the world has been affected by points coming off their tally

The new year brings a lot of excitement to the tennis community. This means a new tennis season is set to commence. 2026 also brings in a new rule due to ranking points in the ATP, with many players set to feel the wrath of this.

Currently, Carlos Alcaraz sits top of the tree with a solid lead over Jannik Sinner, who closed part of the deficit with his ATP Finals triumph back in November. There is then a harrowing crater between them and the rest of the tour, with the two set to be at the top for some time now.

While they are miles clear of the rest, a frantic battle is occurring from Alexander Zverev in the world number three spot and below, as players look to collect as many ranking points as possible on their tallies to climb up the ladder.

Mandatory tournaments have been a huge discussion when talking about scheduling. Many players have come out to talk about the number of tournaments on throughout the year. If you compete in the number of mandatory tournaments for each ranking class as chosen by the ATP, you will be rewarded with a financial bonus at the end of the year.

Ranking points are also on the line if not enough tournaments are competed in. Up until the end of the 2025 season, 19 tournaments could count to the ranking. This included all four Grand Slam events, all eight mandatory Masters 1000 events - not including the Monte-Carlo Masters, and then the next seven best results a player achieved across the tennis season. These will come from ATP 500, 250, and so on. If able to qualify for the ATP Finals, this counts as a bonus for the player.

However, things are set to change. Fron this season onwards, 18 competitions will now be counted towards a player's ranking. That is if they compete in enough events. The four Grand Slam and eight Masters 1000 mandatory events are still part of it, but it is now down to the next best six results across a player's campaign, as well as the ATP Finals if competing. Top 30 players will now also have to commit to just four ATP 500 tournaments, down from the previous tally of five.

The rule change comes in affect the week starting Monday, 29th December 2025. This means that there will be players who are losing out on some ranking points before the 2026 season has begun. This includes seven players in the top 10. Alcaraz and Sinner are not affected, with world number 10 Jack Draper also not seeing anything come off his tally.

Everyone else in the top 10 has seen a small portion of their ranking points come off with one best countable result removed from their ATP Ranking. There is no changes to the order, but it still proves for interesting reading.

World No three Alexander Zverev has dropped 50 points, No four Novak Djokovic has dropped 10 points, No five Felix Auger-Aliassime has dropped 55 points, No six Taylor Fritz has dropped 50 points, No seven Alex de Minaur has dropped 55 points, No eight Lorenzo Musetti has dropped 50 points, while No nine Ben Shelton has dropped 10 points.

Further down, the first sign of movement unfortunately comes for Czech number one Jiri Lehecka. He moves down a spot to 18th after 10 ranking points are swiped from his order. Karen Khachanov is the fortunate player to benefit from this. The only other change in the top 30 comes with Luciano Darderi leapfrogging Tallon Griekspoor into 25th in the world.

There are sizeable changes outside, though. Brandon Nakashima and Stefanos Tsitsipas both fall two places due to this new rule, with Jaume Munar the big winner moving up to 33rd in the world. Corentin Moutet also benefits, clambering up to 34th. Nakashima and two-time Grand Slam finalist Tsitsipas now sit in 35th and 36th respectively. The biggest loser comes for a different Spaniard in the form of Pablo Carreno Busta, who moves down from 89th to 93rd.