Novak Djokovic is in fine form at the French Open – and is once again making history.
Victory over Cameron Norrie in the fourth round saw the Serbian become just the second man in the Open Era to win 100 matches at Roland Garros, following in the footsteps of Rafael Nadal.
Djokovic has also now reached a staggering 19 quarter-finals in Paris, the most of any man at an individual major tournament in the Open Era.
Now, the 38-year-old will look to reach his 12th French Open semi-final, with the sixth seed taking on world No 3 and 2024 runner-up Alexander Zverev in the last eight.
The match could be of huge significance for the context of the tournament, but will be of extra significance for Djokovic as he looks to remain as highly ranked as possible.
Here, we look at the ATP Rankings ramifications for Djokovic across the rest of Roland Garros.
As it stands
Djokovic is currently the world No 6, just behind world No 4 Taylor Fritz and world No 5 Jack Draper; the top three of Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, and Zverev have a significant lead over the rest.
Having reached the quarter-final in 2024 before his withdrawal, the Serbian had 400 ranking points to defend at the second Grand Slam of the year – more than Fritz and Draper.
US No 1 Fritz had 200 points to defend after reaching the fourth round in 2024, while Draper had only 10 French Open points on his ranking after falling in the first round twelve months ago.
Both Draper and Djokovic’s hopes of moving into the top four were significantly boosted when Fritz was stunned in round one at Roland Garros this year, beaten in four sets by Daniel Altmaier.
Fritz holds 4,675 points in the current rankings, but will drop to 4,485 points once the rankings post-event.
That meant that, regardless of results, Draper, who held 4,610 points, would move above the American in the ATP Rankings.
The Brit progressed to the fourth round and holds 4,800 points in the ATP Live Rankings, though he was stunned on Monday by Alexander Bublik.
Meanwhile, Djokovic has now successfully defended his 400 points and sits on his pre-tournament total of 4,230 heading into the last eight.
Now, the three-time French Open champion can capitalise on both Fritz and Draper’s exits.
How can Djokovic move up the rankings?
In terms of his quarter-final against Zverev, the equation is simple for Djokovic: win, and he will overtake Fritz in the rankings.
He would hold 4,630 points should he beat the German, eclipsing Fritz’s tally and pushing the American further down the rankings.
That would then place Djokovic in the semi-final, where he will most likely face world No 1 Jannik Sinner; the Italian faces the unseeded Bublik in his quarter-final on Wednesday.
Beating Sinner in a hypothetical semi-final would be no easy task, but should the 38-year-old reach the final, he would hold 5,130 points and ultimately overtake Draper.
Djokovic would move to 5,830 points if he were to win a record-extending 25th Grand Slam singles title.
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Who else is in contention?
It is not just Djokovic looking to surge up the ATP Rankings, with a handful of other quarter-finalists looking to surge up the rankings by continuing their runs at Roland Garros.
One of those is eighth seed and current world No 7 Lorenzo Musetti, who is into his first quarter-final at Roland Garros.
The Italian has been in fine form this clay swing and holds 4,160 points in the ATP Live Rankings, though he would move to 4,560 points if he were to beat 15th seed Frances Tiafoe on Tuesday.
That would see Musetti move up to No 6 in the live rankings and knock Djokovic down to No 7, though the Serbian could then move ahead of the Italian with a quarter-final triumph of his own.
To move ahead of Djokovic in the rankings, Musetti would have to better the Serbian’s result by one round.
Also in the conversation is 12th seed Tommy Paul, who is currently sitting at a career-high of world No 8 in the ATP Live Rankings.
The American could move to 5,110 points if he were to win the title, ahead of both Musetti and Djokovic with semi-final exits or earlier.
However, Paul faces a tough quarter-final against world No 2 and defending champion Alcaraz on Tuesday.
Tiafoe could also move above Djokovic and Musetti in the rankings, though he would need to beat Musetti on Tuesday, win the title, and hope Djokovic loses to Zverev.
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