Novak Djokovic might face a dangerous slide within the ATP Rankings if he fails to elevate the Australian Open title and a defeat in Melbourne might have a long-term influence.
As Djokovic headed into his quarter-final showdown with Carlos Alcaraz, the Serbian was striving to keep away from an extra slide within the rankings that might injury his hopes of successful one other title on the French Open and a record-equalling eighth Wimbledon title subsequent July.
In what could also be Djokovic’s closing yr as an expert, this might be his closing push to win a outstanding eleventh title in Melbourne and he must make that occur to keep away from a doubtlessly damaging slide within the ATP Rankings.
Whereas rankings are not a significant concern for a participant who has held the world No 1 rating for longer than anybody in tennis historical past, his assembly with Alcaraz on the quarter-final stage of the Australian Open is proof of the challenges he might face for the remainder of 2025 if he loses in Melbourne.
Djokovic is already all the way down to No 8 within the dwell rankings and as he’s set to position a decreased schedule in comparison with most of his rivals within the prime 10, he might not have an opportunity to gather sufficient rating factors to remain within the prime eight positions within the rankings.
That might be important by the point he performs on the French Open in June, because it might imply he wouldn’t be among the many prime eight seeds for the second Grand Slam of the yr.
Extra Tennis Information
Why Novak Djokovic determined this was the second to face as much as the hate
If Djokovic slips out of the elite listing on the prime of the boys’s sport, he might face world No 1 Jannik Sinner, world No 2 Alexander Zverev and No 3 Alcaraz as early because the fourth spherical.
This might add to Djokovic’s problem as he appears to be like to win a record-breaking twenty fifth Grand Slam title, with Alcaraz amongst these suggesting he’s not relishing the prospect to tackle essentially the most profitable participant within the historical past of the boys’s sport at this stage of a match.
“This isn’t the fitting participant to play in a quarter-final,” declared Alcaraz.
“I believe in a grand slam, from quarter-finals to the ultimate, these gamers are the very best on the earth. If it wasn’t Djokovic within the quarter-final, it might be one other participant who’s on the prime of the rating.
“However, going through Novak, for me it’s not going to alter something if I’m enjoying him in a quarter-final or semi-final. In all probability change just a little bit if it’s a closing, clearly.
“Being in a quarter-final, I’m going to strategy the match the identical as I did within the earlier matches towards him, and let’s see. I do know my weapons. I do know that I’m capable of play good tennis towards him, I’m capable of beat him.”
The excellent news for Djokovic is he doesn’t have too many factors to defend forward of the French Open as he suffered an early exit at Indian Wells final yr earlier than pulling out of the Miami Open.
He may have rating factors to defend from his run to the semi-finals of the Monte Carlo Masters, however he might enter further tournaments to spice up his rating if it does slide forward of the second Grand Slam of the yr.
#Novak #Djokovic #going through #alarming #rankings #slide #fails #win #Australian #Open