Novak Djokovic has yet to hit a ball in the clay court season, but he has already seen his hopes of getting a lofty seeding at the French Open get a big boost.
The 24-time Grand Slam-winning legend has been selective in his tournament appearances at the back end of his career, after openly admitting he lacks the motivation to play regularly at events he has won time and again during his incredible career.
So he is opting to skip plenty of regular ATP Tour events, with his move to miss this week’s Monte Carlo Masters not coming as a big surprise.
The challenge for Djokovic is playing enough matches to ensure has the ranking points required to hang on to his fourth place in the ATP Rankings, but he is getting help in that mission from some of his faltering rivals.
Staying in the top four of the rankings is vital to Djokovic as that will ensure he doesn’t need to play French Open champion Carlos Alcaraz or last year’s runner-up, Jannik Sinner, until the final at Roland Garros.
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Former British No 1 Greg Rusedski gave his view on Djokovic’s ambitions, as he suggested holding onto that top four ranking is crucial to his hopes of success in major tournaments.
“It’s not about ranking points. It’s about where he’s seeded. He does need points to be in the top four,” said<a href=”https://www.youtube.com/@offcourtwithgreg”> Rusedski on the latest edition of his podcast</a>
“To win a major these days, you gotta usually go through Alcaraz and Sinner. Then imagine if he drops out of the top four, he might have to play [Alexander] Zverev.
“So for him, the important thing is keeping that top four ranking to give himself a shot at Wimbledon.”
While Djokovic’s run to the Australian Open final in January boosted his ranking and fired him up to No 3 in the ATP list, Alexander Zverev has moved ahead of him after he opted to miss the Miami Open event last month.
The Serbian could have seen his No 4 position threatened during the Miami Open and Monte Carlo Masters, but the players looking to claim that prized top four seeing for the second Grand Slam of the year.
Felix Auger-Aliassime is set to move up to No 5 in the ATP Rankings on Monday, but the Canadian was well beaten by Sinner in Monte Carlo and has now pulled out of the Barcelona Open next week due to fitness concerns.
Italian Lorenzo Musetti is a big threat on clay courts, but he has been struggling to get back to his best after being forced to pull out of his Australian Open quarter-final against Djokovic and his ranking is on the slide.
Casper Ruud was another player who could have been looking to make up ground in the rankings on his favoured surface, but the Norwegian appeared to pick up a serious injury that may hamper his defence of the Madrid Open title last this month.
Djokovic still has a big rankings lead over Ben Shelton, Alex de Minaur and Taylor Fritz, with the return to form of Daniil Medvedev halted by his shocking 6-0, 6-0 defeat against Matteo Berrettini in Monte Carlo.
So Djokovic looks to be well placed to remain in the top four of the ATP Rankings heading into the French Open and Wimbledon, which will be his next two big targets.
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