Novak Djokovic vs Jannik Sinner: Scenarios for World No. 1 at French Open 2024

The 2024 French Open holds a lot to uncover when it comes to the men's singles draw as there are half-a-dozen favorites. For Novak Djokovic, the very possibility of not being able to battle through to the final is big enough to lose sleep over as the defending champion. However, perhaps the biggest threat for the Serb is Jannik Sinner challenging his position as the World No. 1.

Djokovic bowed out of the Geneva Open after losing the semifinal to Tomas Machac on Friday, 24 May, meaning he would start his Roland Garros campaign with 7,960 ranking points against his column with 2,000 to defend. Sinner, on the other hand, will stand at 8,725 points with 45 more to defend from his previous year's second-round showing.

Thus, if both players skip the tournament, Sinner becomes the new World No. 1. Moreover, the shift in places is bound to happen unless the Serb makes it to the semifinals in Paris at least as then he will have regained 800 points to reach 8,760 and Sinner will need to at least prevail in the first round, ensuring 8,775 points.

In another set of possibilities, if the 24-time Grand Slam champion makes it to his second consecutive French Open final (9,260 pts), the young Italian will need to book a place in the semifinals (9,525 pts) in order to topple the former.

Furthermore, if the two end up facing each other in the final, Sinner will take the pole position in the ATP singles rankings even if he loses. In this scenario, he will have reached a tally of 10,025 points, which would be greater than Djokovic's (9,960 pts).

Notably, the Serb is assured of reaching 428 weeks as the World No. 1 men's singles tennis player before the 2024 French Open concludes. It will extend his lead to 118 weeks against Roger Federer in the men's all-time list of top-ranked players and to 51 weeks over Steffi Graf in the all-time tally.

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Novak Djokovic to face Pierre-Hugues Herbert, Jannik Sinner takes on Christopher Eubanks in French Open 1R

Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner will interestingly start their respective French Open campaigns on the same day, i.e., Sunday, 26 May. The Serb will take on home-favorite Pierre-Hugues Herbert in his opener and Sinner will face Christopher Eubanks.

A photo from the 2023 French Open. GETTY

Djokovic and Herbert go a long way back as they played against each other at the 2013 Paris Masters. The 37-year-old defeated Hebert 7-6(3), 6-3 in a Round-of-32 meeting then. The two haven't met on the court since.

Similarly for Sinner, he has battled with Eubanks only once thus far. He met the American in the second round of the US Open two years ago and registered a 6-4, 7-6(8), 6-2 win.