Cortana
Legend
Well maybe he can aim for Nadal+Federer in total weeks?
Race to YE#1 2023 - Djokovic v. Alcaraz
- Thread starter TripleATeam
- Start date
Musterrific
Hall of Fame
Djokovic might be tired right now, but we all know how insanely competitive he is. After he rests for a bit, I think he'll sit down with his team and assess the math. He might not care about the total number of weeks at #1, but this is a golden opportunity to beat
Federer's YE#1 record and WTF championship record simultaneously, which I'm sure will motivate him plenty. After all, who knows what happens in 2024? This might be his last solid chance to achieve these milestones and cement his goathood even further than he already has. Why throw away this once-in-a-lifetime chance when he's already put himself in the most favourable position to capitalize on it?
I think we'll see him enter an additional tournament that's not on his schedule yet as insurance in case he loses early somewhere. He'll want to give himself the best chance possible to hold Alcaraz off in the final stretch.
Federer's YE#1 record and WTF championship record simultaneously, which I'm sure will motivate him plenty. After all, who knows what happens in 2024? This might be his last solid chance to achieve these milestones and cement his goathood even further than he already has. Why throw away this once-in-a-lifetime chance when he's already put himself in the most favourable position to capitalize on it?
I think we'll see him enter an additional tournament that's not on his schedule yet as insurance in case he loses early somewhere. He'll want to give himself the best chance possible to hold Alcaraz off in the final stretch.
Hitman
Bionic Poster
Federer never had the record, he has done it 5 times, the same as Nadal. Sampras had the record of 6, but Djokovic has already broken it with 7.
Djokovic outright holds the YE1 record. He can only extend it further.
LeastExhaustingPlayer
Professional
No matter the point system, 5, 10 or 100 years from now, NO one will remember Alcaraz as the #1 of 2023 over a guy who won 3 majors and was 1 set away from CYGS.
Musterrific
Hall of Fame
Thanks - my bad. For some reason I thought he was tied with Federer, but I must have been thinking of WTF titles.
Rattie
Legend
I don’t think any of us can know for sure what people 100 years from now will think
Hitman
Bionic Poster
WTF titles, they are tied at 6 each.
Fabresque
Legend
It’s confirmed he’s not playing Asia, so it’s safe to say he’s not gonna be the year end no.1. If Alcaraz even bothers playing some of these tournaments, he’ll definitely do it. Unless Medvedev starts sweeping up the indoor season, he might have outside shot by the time the tour finals come around.
TripleATeam
G.O.A.T.
I'm waiting until I hear confirmation from Djokovic's team to make an update here. Until they say it, it's still just speculation.
Rattie
Legend
TripleATeam
G.O.A.T.
Exactly. Nothing is set in stone, so we shouldn't remove the possibility of them going to China. If his team outright says "Novak won't be going to China" then I'll update it.
Hitman
Bionic Poster
If Djokovic doesn't play anything before Paris, then he can kiss the number one ranking good bye for the final time. Alcaraz was always going to be next in line to be the top dog, and he is going to go all in now to get back the number one ranking in the coming weeks. When Djokovic loses it to Alcaraz, that will be the final passing of the torch between them in regards to the number one ranking IMO.
LeastExhaustingPlayer
Professional
Who is deleting threads in this forum? And for what reason?
DSH
Talk Tennis Guru
LaVie en Rose
Hall of Fame
I guess he’ll just publish his schedule for the rest of the season on his official site and inform Shanghai organizers about eventual withdrawal,since he is on entry list automatically based on rankings spot
If Djokovic plays Shanghai, he is near certain to play Beijing where he was a regular, has a huge following and it will be first edition since 2019.Just today, we finished the final slam on tour! You know what that means! The final stretch is upon us!
Up until now, these two have assembled the most points on tour. But let's be kind and include the USO finalist as well.
Race to Turin Likely points left to play Djokovic 8945 3500 Alcaraz 8175 4000 Medvedev 6590 4250 (if #1 seems in reach)
There are 4 weeks of 250s left, Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo, Vienna/Basel, Paris, then the ATP Finals.
Chengdu/Zhuhai 250 Astana 250 Beijing 500 Shanghai 1000 Tokyo 500 Stockholm/Antwerp 250 Vienna/Basel 500 Paris 1000 Metz/Tel Aviv 250 ATP Finals 1500
Djokovic is unlikely to play anything except the 1000+ level tournaments, so 3500. Alcaraz is likely to play 1 of the 3 remaining 500s, and I could see Medvedev playing his heart out to be YE#1 if he had the chance in his grasp (something like Metz/Tel Aviv right before the ATP Finals).
It's difficult to project anything into the future, but if my assumption that Alcaraz plays a 500 and Djokovic doesn't, the Race should really come down to whomever plays better in this part of the season. A large point total of that will be accumulated in the ATP Finals. I'll keep this thread up to date from tournament to tournament to see how it's shaping up - let's hope it's an interesting race!
S'in-net
Semi-Pro
It's likely Djokovic is playing Davis Cup to guarantee qualification for Serbian team at Olympics in 24
In the race Novak is +775
Let's say they both play Paris/YEC, will Alcaraz have made up -775 before Paris ?
The No.1 switch likely hangs on Alcaraz excelling before Paris.
You can say Alcaraz can go all out before Paris, but he's been going all out all season
Also a likelihood Novak enters a Euro 500 before Paris, as well...
Hard to call, at this point. Requires more from Alcaraz than it does Novak, with no confirmation more is definitely coming from Alcaraz without a hitch
In the race Novak is +775
Let's say they both play Paris/YEC, will Alcaraz have made up -775 before Paris ?
The No.1 switch likely hangs on Alcaraz excelling before Paris.
You can say Alcaraz can go all out before Paris, but he's been going all out all season
Also a likelihood Novak enters a Euro 500 before Paris, as well...
Hard to call, at this point. Requires more from Alcaraz than it does Novak, with no confirmation more is definitely coming from Alcaraz without a hitch
socallefty
G.O.A.T.
He will probably play only Bercy and the Turin ATP Finals. If he wins both without a league stage loss in Turin, is that enough to hold off Alcaraz who will probably play every tournament? The way that Djokovic played at the net and hit his FH yesterday in an indoor event under the roof, don’t bet against him at Bercy or Turin.
^
Much will depend of how Carlos perform at his tournaments. Beijing is staked, he might not win a title there. On the other hand, everyone is playing Vienna, he should have little trouble winninig in Basel.
With those 2 tournament, he should catch Novak points. This leaves him with Shanghai, Paris and Turin. If he wins more points there than Novak in Paris and Turin, he will be YEN1.
Much will depend of how Carlos perform at his tournaments. Beijing is staked, he might not win a title there. On the other hand, everyone is playing Vienna, he should have little trouble winninig in Basel.
With those 2 tournament, he should catch Novak points. This leaves him with Shanghai, Paris and Turin. If he wins more points there than Novak in Paris and Turin, he will be YEN1.
TheNachoMan
Legend
Slams should be worth 4000 points instead of 2000.
messiahrobins
Legend
Who cares who ye1 no1 is. Djokoviv was thenbest player this season. Its done and dusted. I hope alcaraz skips rest of season personally. Be fresh for a golden calendar slam assault next year.
nolefam_2024
Bionic Poster
The records matter. The kid has to be stopped from making more history. He already got super lucky when he became youngest number 1. Despite being much worse than Nole last year. Now he has chance to be number 1 despite being much worse than Nole AGAIN. I want Nole to stop him.
Rattie
Legend
Why does he have to be stopped from making history? You don’t complain when Novak makes history.
I don’t get why some fans need to constantly try and diminish any achievements made by a player other than their chosen one. Just because another player achieves something a fan would rather his favoured player own doesn’t mean the other player is somehow less deserving. It’s just sour grapes.
nolefam_2024
Bionic Poster
Because it's zero sum game. If kid makes records he also breaks Nole's records. I get that records are meant to be broken but I would want Nole to fight for it. He already fought fedal in early career. Kid got gifted number 1.
Rattie
Legend
I don’t know what zero sum game means, sorry.
Djokovic already said the No 1 slot isn’t his priority any more so you might have to just suck it up.
nolefam_2024
Bionic Poster
Zero sum means your loss is my gain. Someone wins then someone loses. We are not in unicorn land. I won't root for Carlito when I have my own player in the game.
The obvious answer to who will end 2023 as number 1 is that it will be the one with the most points at the 'cut off' point in deciding the matter. If the wider debate is who deserves to be the year end number 1, then my view is that the one who has attained the most rankings points deserves it. It is the purpose of ranking points to decide these things. With Novak back to number one, he has the current advantage. Let's wait and see how the remaining season pans out.
As to who has been the best player on tour this year, that is a separate issue and without doubt, it is and will remain Djokovic as no one can match what he has already achieved this year.
As to who has been the best player on tour this year, that is a separate issue and without doubt, it is and will remain Djokovic as no one can match what he has already achieved this year.
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nolefam_2024
Bionic Poster
I think the ranking this year has been fair. I would like Nole to skip iw Miami as it doesn't lead up to slams. So whoever wins will deserve it.
Hitman
Bionic Poster
If Djokovic was playing IW-Miami, he would have picked up enough points to really have given him a bit of cushion at this stage of the season.
nolefam_2024
Bionic Poster
I think he would have been too tired to win 2 more slams. Also travel to USA and play masters was taxing at his age. Sure he would have made some more pts in that swing but even a single USOpen gave more pts than that. Since 2019 to 2023, this was the most pts he won in USA.
Hitman
Bionic Poster
I don't know, because he hardly played during the clay season before RG anyway. In fact the extended time off threw off his timing. He didn't need to go all in everywhere, but win matches that kept the points and form in a plus.
DSH
Talk Tennis Guru
Lauren_Girl'
Hall of Fame
Is Nole playing Shanghaï or not? Based on Goran's interview he won't. But he is still in the entry list and it's still 3 weeks from now, so let's see...
I don't want him to lose another very doable YE-#1 after 2013, 2016, 2019 and 2022 but... it's really up to him now. Alcaraz will play Beijing/Shanghai/Basel/Paris/WTF. Djokovic is better than him in Indoors conditions. He can easily get that 8th YE-1#1 if he decides he wants it. I think he can easily skip Beijing and Basel/Vienna but if he also skips Shanghaï, it'll be up to Alcaraz...
I don't want him to lose another very doable YE-#1 after 2013, 2016, 2019 and 2022 but... it's really up to him now. Alcaraz will play Beijing/Shanghai/Basel/Paris/WTF. Djokovic is better than him in Indoors conditions. He can easily get that 8th YE-1#1 if he decides he wants it. I think he can easily skip Beijing and Basel/Vienna but if he also skips Shanghaï, it'll be up to Alcaraz...
Djokovic_is_the_best#1
Bionic Poster
True. You make a good point. I remember being happy that he didn’t play Indian wells and Miami at time. It felt like blessing so he didn’t overplay. It worked out pretty well for him in end.
His schedule will be interesting next year considering he can play them next year and Olympics is in the schedule too. He will drop some tournaments but will be interesting which ones.
messiahrobins
Legend
I get what you are saying. But got to think long term. Investing too much in the fall could be detrimental come january.
Third Serve
Talk Tennis Guru
messiahrobins
Legend
Where to start lol
Omega_7000
Legend
Alcaraz does not deserve to be #1 when a 36 year old has taken away 3 out of 4 slams.
nolefam_2024
Bionic Poster
True. I hope he can do both.
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