How many ATP ranking points will Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner and other Top 10 players defend during clay season?
Novak Djokovic will be defending 2315 points during this year's clay season while Jannik Sinner will have to defend 585.
The Serb's bulk of points from the 2023 clay swing came at the French Open, which he won by beating Casper Ruud in the final. He will be defending the 2000 winner's points at Roland-Garros.
Additionally, the Serb will be defending 180 points from his quarterfinal appearance at the Italian Open and another 135 points from his performances at the Monte-Carlo Masters and Srpska Open in 2023.
World No. 2 Jannik Sinner will be defending 585 points during the clay season, 360 of which came from his semifinal run at the Monte-Carlo Masters. The remainder of the Italian's points came from his quarterfinal run at the Barcelona Open, third-round finish at the Italian Open and his disappointing second-round exit at the French Open.
World No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz will have the second-most number of points to defend (2265) during the clay season among Top-10 players. The Spaniard had successful defenses at the Madrid Open and Barcelona Open, while also reaching the semifinal at the French Open.
World No. 4 Daniil Medvedev will have 1280 points to defend on clay after producing some pretty impressive performances on the surface in 2023. The Russian won his first clay-court event at the Italian Open and will be defending 1000 points in Rome this year.
He also reached the quarterfinals of the Monte-Carlo Masters while suffering third and first-round exits at the Madrid Open and French Open, respectively.
World No. 5 Alexander Zverev will have 1025 points to defend, most of which he earned by reaching the semifinals of the French Open. World No. 6 and World No. 7 Andrey Rublev and Holger Rune both produced impressive performances on clay last season and will be defending 1330 and 1835 points, respectively.
While Rublev won the Monte-Carlo Masters, Rune reached the final of that tournament as well as the Italian Open. The Dane also made it to the French Open quarterfinals.
World No. 8 Casper Ruud will have a lot of points to defend, particularly at the French Open, where he reached his second successive final. The Norwegian will be defending 1935 points.
World No. 9 Grigor Dimitrov and World No. 10 Hubert Hurkacz will not have too many points to defend on clay this season. The Bulgarian will defend 420 points, while the Pole will defend 235.
Novak Djokovic won 12 out of 15 matches on clay in 2023
Novak Djokovic won 12 out of 15 matches during last year's clay season. His first tournament on the surface came in Monte-Carlo, where he reached the third round, before losing to Lorenzo Musetti.
He then competed at the Srpska Open in Banja Luka and reached the quarterfinals before being defeated by eventual champion Dusan Lajovic. Djokovic's next tournament was the Italian Open and he reached the last eight following wins over Tomas Martin Etcheverry, Grigor Dimitrov and Cameron Norrie. Here, he lost to the eventual runner-up Holger Rune.
Djokovic next entered the French Open as the third seed and produced a string of impressive performances to beat Aleksandar Kovacevic, Marton Fucsovics, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Juan Pablo Varillas, Karen Khachanov and Carlos Alcaraz to reach the final. He beat Casper Ruud in the championship match to win his 23rd Grand Slam title.