Who Will Take the Men’s World Number One Ranking off Novak Djokovic?

Serbian star Novak Djokovic has been the world number one for longer than any other male tennis player in history. At the time of writing, he’s racked up 402 weeks to put him far ahead of second-placed Roger Federer in the all-time list. Like all great players, he will eventually lose his crown but who could be the man to topple him from the top?

Carlos Alcaraz

At 37 years old, Rafael Nadal is a year older than Djokovic, so he’s not going to be playing top-level tennis long enough to beat the Serbian’s total number of weeks at the top even if some people think he’s superhuman. However, Carlos Alcaraz is a younger player from Spain who is arguably better placed than anyone else to reach the top.

Currently sitting in second place in the rankings, Alcaraz has time on his side. At just 20 years old, he could presumably dominate the sport for a decade or more if he fulfils his early promise. He’s already become the first teenager in the modern era to top the rankings and has spent 26 weeks as number one.

In fact, since September 2022, Alcaraz and Djokovic have been swapping the top position between and the Spaniard’s early age suggesting that he’ll eventually become the undisputed number one unless a new challenger appears on the scene. He recently pointed out that Nadal is his hero and that he also looks up to Federer.

Daniil Medvedev

With 16 weeks at number one already under his belt, Medvedev is currently ranked third in the men’s tennis world rankings. The Russia has collected 20 tour titles including the dramatic US Open in 2021 where he beat Djokovic to deny the Serbian a Grand Slam. 

His victory in the 2020 ATP Finals was also a revelation, as Daniil beat the top three ranked players at the time to win the title, which is something that had never been done. Although he started playing on the pro tour in 2015, he first came to the attention of tennis fans for reaching an impressive six finals in a row.

2022 saw Medvedev become only the third Russian to top the men’s ATP rankings. This also saw him break up the big three of men’s tennis, as Nadal, Federer, and Djokovic had totally dominated the top spots since Scotland’s Andy Murray lost the number one position in 2017.

Jannik Sinner

Currently level with Medvedev in the rankings, 22 -year-old Jannik Sinner is as high as he’s ever been in fourth place, but can he go even higher? The Italian player started his pro career at the age of 16 and was soon winning tournaments with style.

He recently beat world number one Djokovic in both the singles and doubles games in the David Cup, ending the Serbian’s 12-year winning streak in the Davis Cup’s single games.

Jannik is the joint highest-ranking player from Italy in history, which is a title he shares with Adriano Panatta. With ten ATP singles titles to his name to date, it seems likely that Sinner will go on to challenge for the top spot soon.

Trying to decide who is going to win the upcoming tournaments is a popular activity among tennis fans. With so many top players currently on the tour, a look at the sports betting odds shows that you can get odds on any of them to win their upcoming games. You can either bet on individual games, decide who you think will win the tournament, or conduct live betting on sets and matches as they take place.

Andrey Rublev

Currently sitting in his highest-ever position of fifth in the ATP rankings, 26-year-old Rublev has won the Monte-Carlo Masters in 2023 with this 250th career win. The Russian has also set the unwanted record of getting to the quarterfinals of major tournaments but not going any furthermore times than any other male tennis player in modern history.

Is he capable of reaching the number one spot? Andrey’s record in pro tennis is enough to suggest that he could do this, although getting past the crucial quarterfinals stage in the majors is one issue he’s going to have to deal with sooner or later if he’s going to move on to the next level of success.

He was in the news recently when he got so frustrated in a loss to Carlos Alcaraz in the ATP Finals that he bloodied his knee by himself when he hit it repeatedly with his racket. He later said that it was due to being disappointed and not being able to manage this feeling.

There’s a lot to look forward to in the world of men’s tennis, with each of these players we’ve looked at capable of going to the very top. Djokovic has said in the last few months that he has no intention of retiring soon, so it’s going to be interesting watching to see whether any of the sport’s young guns can wrestle the top spot away from him.