Despite Novak Djokovic’s intention to play
As things stand, Sinner will overtake Djokovic as the unofficial world No. 1 next week. The defending Roland Garros winner will shed 2,000 points, while the Italian will only drop 45 points as he lost in the 2023 semifinal.
The options for the world No. 1 ranking were straightforward before Djokovic startled the tennis world by playing the ATP 250 tournament in Switzerland. Sinner was expected to lead by 865 points going into Roland Garros.
Sinner would have needed to take second place in order to prevent Djokovic from maintaining his lead if the Serbian had triumphantly retained his championship in Paris. Conversely, had Serbian lost the championship match, Sinner would have advanced to the semifinals and secured the title of official world number one.
However, Djokovic has made the decision to play in the Geneva Open in order to get match preparation before the French Open. The three-time Roland Garros champion has only participated in six surface matches this year, so before the Paris tournament begins on Sunday, he wants to gain some experience on the red soil.
For his performance in Switzerland to affect the standings following the French Open, he would need to make it to at least the semifinals. He will receive 90 points if he advances to the last four, cutting Sinner’s advantage at Roland Garros to 775 points.
That would imply that Djokovic could maintain his top ranking if he advanced to the semi-finals (worth 800 points), but that would need Sinner to lose in the first round of the Roland Garros tournament.
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